Adventures and Misdemeanours of the Roscoe 'Tribe'
by lollzie
Summary: A series of one-shots about the Roscoe family and what they get up to in Hollyoaks Tears, laughter, adventure and a whole lot more. PROMPT FIC - Freddie accompanies a female friend to a gig and it doesn't end well
1. New Starts

_New Starts Aren't So Bad After All_

_I've never written anything like this before, but I hope everyone enjoys this fic. The Adventures and Misdemeanour's of the Roscoe 'Tribe' is going to be a series of one shots. I have the first four chapters planned out, but I want you (yes you) to give me your ideas. _

_This is my first ever prompt fic I've ever done and I am more than happy to write up whatever you want me to (obviously it has to be about the Roscoe's). The chapters won't relate to each other, so a character could die in one chapter and then be completely fine in the other, as each chapter is a story (ergo, it all being oneshots). _

_The chapters will also be vastly different in length depending on what I'm writing, the shortest story so far is just over 1000 words, whilst the longest is almost 4500. _

_Also, in this oneshot I haven't mentioned Robbie being kicked out, because in this fic the robbery never happened, or Sandy hasn't found out yet, you can choose. _

_I hope you enjoy this fic, and I hope you get requesting!_

Sometimes new starts were for the best, Sandy thought to herself as she began to fill the sink with warm soapy water, a stack of dirty plates on the side. She'd been nervous about moving up to Chester with the family, uprooting them all, potentially for the worst but it had seemed to be working out so far.

It was a necessary move to be fair. Robbie had been to every single college in their old area and swiftly expelled from them all too. The Hollyoaks College was the only option due to their consistent good results in every subject taught and because it also worked under the same exam board that the previous colleges did.

And whilst the old garage hadn't been failing it wasn't doing brilliantly either. There were too many garages in the city and the competition was huge, meaning there was no chance of the family making a name for themselves or a huge profit in the foreseeable future.

This fact was the main reason why the whole family had followed Sandy, Robbie and Jason to Hollyoaks village, the chance to make a real name for themselves was too great for the three eldest siblings to let slide and despite having just finished with her training, Lindsey was granted a quick and relatively painless transfer, reuniting the whole family within just weeks.

Despite having just moved in less than a month previous, Sandy was already loving her new home. It was much roomier than their old one, (even though everyone had to be paired up for bedrooms) and a lot easier for family meals to take place, meaning she could surround herself with the people she loved as often as she wanted.

The new garage was doing fantastically well too. It had had a few teething problems in the first few weeks (what new business doesn't?) but the boys had quickly found their feet and dug right in. They advertised in the papers and thought up dozens of wacky promotions to attract customers and it seemed to be working.

Her boys were often working past closing time just to make sure that they were ready for the next day and she had heard Joe and Freddie talking about hiring some more people to lighten the strain. It was fantastic to see all their hard work paying off and there was a constant swell of pride for her children because of it. Her late husband Alan had been the one to start the garage up, each son joining once they were of age and although it had never been very well known, it did well enough to pay the bills.

The move had made their business flourish, they'd never been so busy, for which Sandy was grateful for. Moving was stressful enough, but she knew that a major concern for them was the garage. Mainly, would the business survive a giant move? Well it had and everyone had given a sigh of relief when they realised they were fully booked and were continuing to be so. She knew that if Alan could see them now he would be proud to see how well they were all doing.

Joe and Lindsey were closer than ever before, and their relationship was so strong they were seriously considering finding a flat of their own. They had brought this up when they all still lived in London and it had initially been a worrying prospect for Sandy to think over. Although they had all lived under the same roof back then, the family had felt a lot more disjointed down South.

Everyone would do their own thing and Sandy knew that if Joe and Lindsey did move out, they would only become more distant than they previously were.

But now? The new start had brought the family closer together and it was having a positive effect on everyone, Joe and Lindsey had involved everyone when they were choosing a new place (Sandy had been more than delighted to see that all of their initial choices were in the village, meaning they'd be no more than a ten minute walk away) and had a final three lined up, ready to be looked over.

Although he hadn't even started at the college yet, Jason was becoming more confident in himself with each passing day too. He was really coming out of his shell and had managed to get a job at the local deli and despite a bad start (delivering drugs, really?) was doing well there.

He knew the shop's regulars well enough by name now and was already on friendly terms with a few people who were due to be in his year at the college. Sandy was proud of him, although he did have friends at his old school, he hung out in a small, tightly knit group with the same people since secondary school.

Combine that with his crippling shyness, it meant that socializing wasn't his area of expertise and Sandy had been worried that he would struggle at the college with making new friends. The job had done wonders for his confidence and he was out most nights with his new-found mates.

Robbie seemed to be liking the new area and appeared to be settling down also. Sandy hadn't received any news from the school about him starting any fights (with teachers or pupils), skiving and general bad behaviour in class. In fact, her youngest had already been at the school longer than he had his previous two schools combined.

Fingers crossed, Robbie's slightly destructive behaviour was over for good, although she couldn't help but be wary. There was still plenty of time for him to cause havoc, but she was hoping that the fact the whole family had to move hundreds of miles to keep him in education was a strong enough message for him to keep his nose down. So far, so good, but after years of experience she knew that it was always best to keep her eyes peeled for trouble.

Her second eldest's behaviour had also improved significantly since the move. Sometimes her family must think she was stupid, or they were at least much smarter than her. They'd never been able to pull the wool over her eyes and they certainly weren't going to start now.

She knew Freddie was involved in some _dodgy_ things, or at least had been. He wasn't very discrete and although she didn't know the ins and outs of what he got up to, she knew that it wasn't pretty. She knew that some people would have very strong reactions to her doing nothing about the situation, maybe even call her an unfit mother, but she knew what it was like too. When she was Freddie's age she had gotten mixed in with the wrong crowd, had done things she regretted but she had got out of it. Made something worthwhile of her life. She had done all that on her own, her parents hadn't supported her (had practically thrown her out when they found out she was pregnant with Joe) and it was entirely up to her to change her life.

It was why she hadn't cut in with Freddie, he needed to learn from his mistakes, although she made sure to keep an eye on him, to make sure he wasn't going in too deep, if that happened then she would intervene. No doubt about it.

It was another reason for the move though. She had hoped that by moving them all away, Freddie would have the sense to leave that sort of life all behind him and it seemed to be working. Since leaving Sandy hadn't heard the phone going off in the middle of the night (a regular occurrence in London) and there were no more _strange _packages in the post.

She had no idea if Freddie was still in contact with his old friends, but at the moment he didn't seem to be. Thank God.

The move had even seemed to have calmed down the womaniser that was Ziggy. Like Freddie, she knew more about her third son's life than he was aware of. She knew exactly what he got up to when he was strangely absent from the house at night, unfortunately.

But since arriving in Hollyoaks he had gone out partying less and less and would focus his affections onto one girl instead of the usual half a dozen. He wasn't a bad lad, but Ziggy could be quite fickle. One day he would be completely besotted with one girl, the next he would have little to no interest in her. This trait had broken more than one girl's heart over the years.

Recently however she had only seen him with one girl. A pretty blonde from down the road, she didn't know her by name but had seen her sneaking down the stairs some mornings and knew that Ziggy had taken her out on a few dates. It may not be true love, but it was steadiest relationship he'd had in years.

She smiled as she washed the final plate, maybe new starts aren't so bad after all.

_I hope everyone liked this first chapter, but they will all be different. _

_If anyone has a request, pm me or review this story with the idea. You can give me as much or as little detail as possible, I don't mind, after all it's up to you. _

_Next chapter: __A dose of adventure, with a bit of pain on the side (literally) – prompted by H20xSpelboundfanx _


	2. Bit of Pain on the Side (Literally)

_A dose of adventure, with a bit of pain on the side (literally) _

Trying not wince as he sat down, Jason clenched his teeth as another wave of pain through his stomach hit. He hadn't been feeling well since the night before but had hoped that he would feel better afer a night's sleep, this hadn't been the case.

"I'm not feeling well," he said, turning to face his mum who was buttering slices of toast. "Can I just go back to bed,"

Sandy snorted from where she was stood. "Good try Jase, but I think you forget that I had three others before you, I know all the skiving tricks in the book."

"But-"

"No buts," She said in a singsong voice, ignorant to the hit of pain in Jason's stomach as his brothers all chuckled around the kitchen table. "What is it? A test you haven't revised for? An essay you haven't written?"

"I'm not lying,"

"We have to hand an essay in for English today and a practice paper in history," Robbie supplied gleefully, only smirking at the death glare that was sent his way.

"And I've done the essay,"

Sandy bit her lip, sensing her son's distress. It wasn't like Jason to skive, that was always Robbie's area of expertise, but it was an important year at school for both of them. They couldn't take time off whenever they felt like it and she knew that exams were due to start in the next few weeks.

"If you still feel ill tomorrow you can take the day off, but you need to do that history paper, it'll help for your proper exams."

"That's not fair," Jason cried, pushing his plate away and leaving the kitchen quickly.

"What about your breakfast?" Sandy called after him as the others watched in shock.

"I'm not hungry," Well it wasn't a lie, as well as the constant pain and the awful headache, he felt like he was going to be sick, meaning his appetite was pretty much non-existent. As he made his way to the college, he couldn't help but think about the unfairness of the situation. If it had been Robbie (or any of the others when they were at school) they would be allowed to have the day off. All four of them always managed to get their way using charm and bribery but it never worked for him.

He was genuinely ill too, he couldn't remember ever feeling so bad and all he wanted to do was curl up into bed and sleep off whatever bug had chosen to decimate his immune system, instead he had to power through double English, Biology and History whilst ignoring the constant nausea and searing stomach pains.

Before he knew it he'd managed to make it to the school (he's really not sure how that one happened) and was sitting in registration, curling into himself to do _anything_ to lessen the pain.

"-ason? Jason?"

"Hmm what?" Jason looked up, to see Mr McQueen and a few other classmates peering at him expectantly at him, though there's a hint of worry in all there faces.

"I'm calling the register, although it appears we haven't all woken up yet," John-Paul joked, causing Jason's cheeks to flush a bright red and the others students to start laughing. Despite his joking tone, Mr McQueen still looked slightly worried, but Jason couldn't find it in himself to care, he was just too sore.

The rest of the day passed in a pain-filled blur. He remembered vague moments of the day; he knew he failed the history test because he was too busy trying to not throw up instead of answering the questions and despite buying a sandwich from the cafeteria he remembered not even managing a bite of it.  
Not that anyone seemed too worried about it, they had shot him a concerned glance and Ruby had looked like she was going to say something before Robbie had taken it, stuffed the whole thing into his mouth and successfully moved all attention onto him. When he had attempted to eat a few crisps a little while later, he had quickly thrown them back up again. He had fortunately made it to the toilets quickly enough and no-one was any the wiser.

At that point he knew he should go back home, his mum wasn't totally unfair just suspicious that he was skiving. Vomiting meant that he was actually ill and she would more than accept Jason leaving school to go lie in bed under half a dozen blankets until the pain went away.

But he had only had English after lunch and Jason needed to hand the essay in, it was already late and whilst Mr McQueen was a nice guy, he wasn't a big fan of tardiness, ready to sanction people if he thought they deserved it.

So he had struggled through the final two lessons, not taking down a single note, choosing to focus on his breathing and trying not to pass out in the middle of class until the final bell rung.

By this point, as Robbie and Jason were walking down to the garage, the pain was almost crippling.

There was no way he was going to school tomorrow, not if the pain continued the way it was, it was taking every ounce of control to make sure he didn't start crying out. He'd slowed right down, he knew that, could see Robbie pause from up the lane, turning back with an annoyed look on his face.

"Hurry up Jase!" he yelled. "Joe's gonna go mad if we're late."

"Sorry," Jason called back, trying to increase his pace, although this made him feel even worse and he quickly slowed himself down again. As he walked down the lane, he pressed a hand against his side, and nearly cried out as a sharp twinge ran through his stomach from the added pressure, not that Robbie seemed to notice.

The pair finally make their way to the garage, quickly changing into their overalls and finding a job to keep themselves busy.

As he heavily leant against the wall, once again trying not to be sick (once was more than enough thank-you), Freddie made his way round to him, lightly polishing a screw. "Are you okay Jase? You're dead pale."

"Told Mum I was sick," he muttered, trying to smile at his brother and show him it wasn't anything but he knew it looked more like a grimace.

"If you feel really bad just go home, we won't-" Freddie was cut off by Joe yelling across the garage, telling him to answer the phone. He shot Jason an apologetic smile before leaning over to pick the phone up, turning to the book and began scribbling. By the time he had written down the booking, Jason had made sure he was on the other side of the garage. He didn't need mollycoddling, he only had a bug for God's sake. One day of rest would fix him right up, but he could make it through a shift at least, he wasn't completely helpless.

He made it through an hour, maybe two (at this point it was becoming difficult focusing on time, the pain taking up the majority of his attention) at the garage before it became to much for him. He wasn't sure how it happened, one moment he was reaching down to pass a spanner over to Ziggy the next he'd doubled over as the pain returned full force.

He felt Ziggy's firm grip on his arm, trying to keep him from sprawling on the floor and sensed the others circling around him. Freddie and Robbie were talking quietly to one another, and he was gently pushed to one of the seats.

The pain decreased significantly once he had sat down and he calmed himself, though it was still gently throbbing, reminding him that he was still ill.

"You with us mate?" Joe asked, kneeling in front of him. "What happened there?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," he muttered, taking the water bottle that Ziggy passed over.

"That's not fine," Joe placed his hand on Jason's forehead, frowning in concern. "You're burning up,"

"I'm fine," Jason repeated, though as he spoke the pain comes back with a vengeance and he couldn't hold back the groan. His heartbeat rang through his ears and the room was spinning worse than ever. He'd never felt like this before, it was probably the worst thing he's ever experienced and his side was just getting worse. It felt like he was being stabbed and the pain was fiery sharp.

"We need to take him to hospital," Freddie's voice broke through.

"What? No, I'm not that bad,"

"You are definitely that bad," Joe argued back and Jason couldn't find it in himself to push the matter. "I'll drive you down, Freddie call mum, tell her what's happened."

Freddie nodded as Joe and Robbie made their way to the car, Jason leaning heavily on both of them.

"I'm coming with you," Robbie informed Joe sharply, already getting into the back of the car. "He's been ill all day, and I should have noticed at school, he may have been fine if I said something."

Joe nodded, knowing that Robbie needed to be with his twin more than anything at this point.

Jason's side continued to sear painfully throughout the whole car journey and he couldn't hold the whimpers of pure pain in.

Sandy has already arrived at the hospital by the time they've made it, pure panic all over her face. She ran over to the three, gently steering them to the reception desk. There was little waiting time and they were quickly moved into a nearby cubicle . He knew that Ziggy and Freddie entered the room at one point, but he couldn't tell you when. Sandy spent the majority of her time murmuring quiet reassurances to him, but Jason couldn't even focus on her words.

The room was still spinning and the pain only increasing, meaning it was the only thing he could properly focus on.

A nurse finally arrived (they may have had been only waiting for a few minutes, but in the bare room, there is nothing to measure time with, and it felt like hours to Jason), dressed in light blue scrubs with a clipboard in hand.

"Jason Roscoe?" When he nodded, she continued gently. "I'm Lucy. What seems to be the problem?"

"My stomach really hurts," as he spoke, pointing to his right side where the pain was the worse. Lucy nodded, scribbling down on the clipboard, before taking a thermometer and placing it over his forehead. "38.9," she said, as the numbers began flashing on the digital screen.

"Is that bad?"

"It's higher than it should be," she informed the family, placing the clipboard on the side table. "Can I take a look?" When Jason nodded, she gently pulled his shirt up and tugged slightly on his trousers so she could easily look at his side. The nurse lightly ran her fingers over his stomach, shooting him a sympathetic look when he groaned lightly. She placed her palm lightly on his stomach, slowly moving from the left side to his upper abodmen, and okay, he tried to prepare himself for the inevitable pain but it was worse than he ever could imagine when she pressed fully down and he couldn't help the yelp that escaped.

The pain was so intense, going from a dull incessant throbbing to a stab wound in next to no time, and Jason couldn't stop tears from forming in his eyes.

"Is this where the pain if strongest?" The nurse asked gently, still not moving her hand away. All Jason could do was nod, scared that if he opened his mouth he'll just break down. Finally Lucy pulled away, moving to write more notes on her keyboard.

"Have you suffered any nausea or vomiting?"  
"I – uh, I've been feeling sick since last night and I threw up at lunchtime," Jason said softly, ignoring the cries from his family, all asking, no demanding why he didn't tell them what had happened.

Noting Jason's discomfort, Lucy turned to the others. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to wait outside. You shouldn't really be here anyway," Once the five others had left (all grumbling slightly), Lucy turned back to her patient.  
"You're going to need to change into this," she informed him, passing over a basic hospital gown. "And then I'm going to take you down for a CT scan."

"Do you know what's wrong with me?" Jason croaked, unsteadily getting to his feet.

"Looking at your stats I would say it's appendicitis, but that's what the CT is for. To confirm our suspicions. Do you want me to call your mum in to help you change?"

Jason shook his head, slowly taking his clothes of and trying not to double over every time his arm brushed against his side.

The CT scan took barely any time at all and within fifteen minutes he back in the cublicle, completely surrounded by his family (they were never very good at sticking to the rules) waiting for the results to come in. When he had been getting his scan done, Lindsey had made her way to her room, though she had been dragged back to work shortly after Jason had arrived, much to her annoyance.

Lucy and a man he didn't recognise entered the room, quietly talking to each other and looking over some papers. "I'm Dr. Swailes," he said, looking over Jason's notes still. "Well it's definitely appendicitis I'm afraid. But it shouldn't take too much hassle to admit you and you should be in surgery within the hour. There's nothing to worry about though, appendectomy is a routine surgery and you'll be as good as new in no time," The doctor gave a reassuring smile before swooping out of the room.

"He's right," Lucy said, as Jason still looked slightly worried. She pulled a wheelchair to the bed and helped Jason into it. "I'm taking you to the pre-op room now," she explained. "You'll be given an IV and get settled before being taken into surgery.

Jason nodded, unsure of what to say, or even if he could say anything through the pain. The pre-op room was bare and small and once he's been helped into the bed, Lucy quickly left leaving only himself and Sandy there.

"Your brothers are outside, there's only allowed to be one person at time in here, they don't want you to get wound up or to overexert yourself." Jason nodded, clutching his mum's hand hard. He felt like a little boy again, but this time a hug and kiss wouldn't fix it all. Only surgery would do that, and no matter how minor or routine it was, it didn't make it any less scary.

As he was hooked up to an IV and tried not to wince at all the different needles, Jason focused on the soft murmurings from his mum, promising him it would all be okay.

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The waiting room outside the theatre was tense. All the Roscoes were waiting silently, no-one daring to make a sound. Lindsey had managed to take the rest of the day off and had rejoined the family shortly after Jason had gone in. They were only waiting for an hour, but it felt so much longer for them all and every time a nurse walked through they would look hopefully, praying that someone would bring them news.

Finally a nurse entered from the surgical doors and made her way down to the waiting room. "The Roscoes I presume?" When they nodded, she continued. "The surgery went well, although Jason is still woozy from the anaesthesia but he is comfortable and will already be feeling much better. Only one person can visit at a time I'm afraid, but I'll be happy to take someone now."

Before anyone could speak up, Robbie had stood up and was already following the nurse to Jason's room. As they entered the recovery room, the nurse gave Robbie a few basic instructions before she left him be with his sleeping brother.

Robbie was instantly struck with how vulnerable Jason looked, covered in a number of blankets that made him look smaller than he actually was. A heart monitor was set up on one side of him with an IV on the other and he pulled a chair to one side, making himself as comfortable as possible as Jason slept on.

After a good thirty minutes, Jason began twitching and groaned slightly. Robbie instantly dropped his month old magazine, glad he was the only one in the room. In the last half hour, the rest of the family had traipsed in and out of the hospital room, though the only stayed for a few minutes when they were happy that Jason was well.

Robbie, however hadn't moved from his seat once, and had promised himself that he wouldn't till Jason had actually told him he was okay. As Jason cracked open an eye, a pain-filled moan escaped, filling the room. He shifted lightly, grimacing as the pain seemed to only increase.

As if summoned by a greater power, a nurse looked through the door before entering. She shushed Jason quickly, asking him a few questions and then when she was satisfied by his answers, took his blood sugar and swiftly gave him two injections. One was insulin, whilst the other seemed to be more medicine.

She lingered for a few more moments, reading over the charts, but Robbie knew that she was just making sure that what she gave Jason was effective. When he stayed quiet, she quietly left the room, nodding politely over at Robbie.

"How you doing?" he finally asked, though he wasn't really sure what to expect. For all he knew, the drugs that Jason had just received may knock him right out again. Jason turned his head, staring at Robbie with glassy eyes for at least a minute before giving him a smile. Even now he was the one doing the reassuring.

"Like crap," Jason finally whispers, wincing as he tried to move again.

"Well you look it," Robbie said, a ghost of a smirk on his face. It was true though, there were deep purple bags under his eyes, made even more prominent due to the paleness of his face. He looked even more sick and tired now, then before he went into surgery.  
"Don't hold back," Jason quipped, though there was no fire behind his words.

"You should sleep, it'll do you good."

"Hurts,"

"I know bro," Robbie replied, trying to keep his voice steady as Jason closed his eyes. It wouldn't help anyone if he didn't keep calm. He couldn't let Jason know how scared he was. How angry or upset either. It wasn't fair though, he noted. Jason was one of the kindest people he had ever met, but life sure didn't make it easy for him.

He'd been complaining about his sore stomach that very morning, but no-one had taken him seriously. He'd had to go to school, strain himself and possibly make himself more ill than he was already. He'd overheard the doctor telling Sandy that they were lucky that he'd been admitted when he had. If he'd been a few hours later than his appendix would have ruptured and who knew what would have happened.

"I'm sorry Jase," he whispered, taking his brother's hand and squeezing it gently. "For being such a crap brother."

"Not crap," Jason muttered, squeezing back and startling Robbie. He'd been convinced Jason had been sleeping and told him so. "Don't need to be sorry, you didn't do anything," was his only reply as he finally drifted back to sleep.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

He wasn't sure how long he slept for, but when he woke up again, the whole family had crowded into his room. When they noticed he'd woken, they helped him to sit up, making sure not to nudge him as well as they could.

Lucy entered through the main door and smiled brightly at him when she saw he was awake, passing a tray over to Sandy before teaching him to work the morphine pump, which worked wonders.

Sandy quickly moved to the side of the bed, passing the tray over, and Jason saw that it was covered in food.

"You need something solid in you," she cooed, stroking his hair lightly. Although he complained and rolled his eyes, Jason managed to swallow his sugar-free jelly down before his family had to leave for the night, all with promises to return early the next morning.

Lucy returned a few hours later, with another nurse that Jason promptly forgot the name of as soon as he was told. The managed to get him to walk down the ward after a lot of persuasion, though it hurt like a bitch even with the morphine. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

When he woke up, the room was empty bar the two other teens he was sharing with. Both still appeared to be sleeping though quickly woke up when the nurses entered the room with breakfast in hand.

The room remained silent as all three chew mechanically, although Jason only managed half of his before he felt sick. The doctor entered the room shortly after breakfast and examined the tiny wounds on his sides before checking on his vitals, giving him a shot of insulin as he went.  
When he returned from his lap of the ward, the whole family were all sat around his bed, clearly waiting for him.

"You okay love?" Sandy asked, helping him into the bed and lightly hugging him,

"I'm feeling better," Jason answered, smiling slightly. It was true though, although his side still hurt like a bitch, the pain was much less than it had been the day before. All seven talked comfortably for a good half hour before Lindsey has to leave to start her shift (though she promised to return during her breaks) and Joe, Freddie and Ziggy had to leave to set up the garage.

Once the four had piled out of the room, Jason turned to his twin. "You skiving then? Mr Blake won't be happy,"

"Blake can stuff it," Robbie shrugged, ignoring his mum's reprimand.

"Mr Blake has allowed for Robert to take the day off," she amended. "Knew it would be for the best, although you _are _going back tomorrow."

It's clear that the pair had talked about this before, simply judging by Sandy's tone and Robbie's eye roll and Jason can't help but smile at the familiarity of it all.

The doctor returned a few hours later, checking on the chart and stats in front of him. "You're fever's completely gone Jason and you seem to be recovering quickly."

"Does this mean I can go home?" he asked, crossing his fingers. One night at hospital was more than enough.

"You'll just need to sort through the forms, but I don't see why not." Dr Swailes smiled, handing the forms over to Sandy who quickly began scribbling. In less than thirty minutes, Jason was dressed and checked out of the hospital and was making his way down to the car with the help of Robbie and his mum.

It was a quick drive home and though he was no longer in so much pain, Jason did still feel slightly woozy and hobbled up the stairs, leaning heavily on Robbie. He quickly crashed as soon as he lay down (and seriously he'd slept for 12 hours at the hospital, he shouldn't be so tired), the sound of his mum and Robbie arguing in the kitchen as per making him feel more at home and comfortable than the hospital ever did.

When he woke up a few hours later, everyone has returned home and Sandy was pushing painkillers into his hand as soon as he entered the living room. He took them gratefully and made his way to the kitchen table where Lindsey and Freddie were setting up.

"Now I know you can have solids now, but I don't want you eating too much and getting sick," Sandy told him, placing a bowl of mashed potato on the table.

"Don't think there's much chance of that," Freddie muttered, causing Lindsey to splutter suddenly. She excused herself when she noticed Sandy looking on curiously, and both Freddie and Jason shared an amused look.

He managed to eat about half the food on his plate before giving up (an achievement on any night when his mum was cooking, never mind when he'd just been in surgery) and after dinner both Joe and Ziggy helped him with some simple exercises.

He was still tired (God knows how) and as he found himself drifting off on the sofa, surrounded by his family; all laughing and talking with one another, he knew there was no better place in the world.

_H20xSpelboundfanx I hope you enjoyed this! Next chapter – Cliché Meetings - Joe and Lindsey meet for the first time. _


	3. Cliche Meetings

_Cliché Meetings _

_This is much fluffier oneshot than the previous one and I ended up writing it pretty soon after Lindsey's arrival to Hollyoaks. I never had the intention of publishing it, but when I started this 'project' I couldn't help but think what the hell. I've never written in this style before (apart from the occasional drabbles that never see the light of day) and I'd love some feedback on it, to see if people think I should do more things in a similar manner. _

Whenever people ask how they met, they'll have already have decided for themselves how it went down. It's something that people do, fill in the blanks before they've been given the information. But he's a mechanic and she's a doctor, there's enough cliché ways to meet each other to fill a book.

Some see them and picture a stormy night. Her car would have broken down by the side of the road, though too far away for her to make her way back home. She would make the call, comforted by the warm tone on the other end of the line.

He would arrive in no time whatsoever, having raced from the garage to help out, due to his more than helpful nature. That paired with the stormy weather would make it seem more like a rescue than just the usual pick-up. These people see the pair of them flirting in the tow truck, her broken down car (usually a rusty vintage thing) being wheeled along behind them.

They would have continued flirting in the garage, with one of his brothers gently ribbing him in front of her, trying to embarrass him in front of the pretty girl, but she would smile and think it was cute, the way his cheeks slightly coloured at the teasing.

The next day, when she would go to pick her car up, they'd start flirting again. But this time it would be different. They'd be the only two present, so there would be no chance of interruptions, electricity practically sizzling between them and then he'd ask her out for a drink. She'd say yes and then rest, they say is history.

Others think it's her work-place that was the initial meeting point. He'd have injured himself at the garage and would have needed medical attention, maybe it was a concussion, maybe not, but it'd definitely be something that would need him to stay overnight at the hospital. She'd be the one to check on him every couple of hours, make sure he's still breathing and all.

She'd find his confusion and bleariness cute when he was woken up each time, and they'd end up talking for five minutes at a time before she was dragged away for another task, always turning back to smile sweetly as she was pulled from the ward, him meeting her eyes every time.

The next morning, as he's being discharged, he'd make his way over to her, sitting by the desk, her eyes heavy as she's had a long shift and he'd thank her for everything. He'd brush past her, and she'd think nothing of it, merely wishing she could have known him a bit better.

When she'd be at home, changing into comfier clothes, she'd feel the folded paper in her pockets. Her eyes would widen as she realised that it was _his _number and she would spend the next ten minutes trying to decide whether she should ever call him.

Her hands would tremble as she would dial the number on the phone, slowly though, she wouldn't want to make a mistake. The phone would ring five or six times, long enough for her to think it was a cruel joke and the number was never his.

Eventually though, he'd pick up, "Hello, Joe Roscoe speaking." His voice wouldn't sound different to the random passer-by, but she'd be able to pick up on the nervousness. After all, she'd be feeling it too. In that moment, she would know it was the best decision to dial the number on the scrap of paper she found in her pocket.

"Hi, it's Lindsey Butterfield. If I'm not mistaken, you put your number into my pocket after you spent last night at the hospital. I was wondering, would you like to go for a drink sometime?"

And the rest, they say is history.

A minority of people don't imagine that their respective work places had anything to do with their meeting. They have a sort of familiarity in everyday life with each other that gives the impression that they've been together for many years. These people see them as high school sweethearts.

Spending their first few years dodging around each, cheeks flushing as their eyes met across the classroom, the attraction obvious to see.

They wouldn't start dating till the second half of their high school careers, but it would be different than any other relationship they had previously had and miles different to their friends relationships also.

Their love would be passionate and fiery (as many young relationships are) but instead of fizzling out, theirs would flourish. Sure they'd argue, but they'd work around it. Lindsey would come down from university to visit whenever possible and get work in the local hospital once she had finished with her studying.

They would share everything with each other, and because of their brutal honesty with one another, they would grow only grow as a couple, both willing to change and adapt for the other.

They have always been the other's other half, completing each other in ways that other couples could only wish for. When he proposes in their mid-twenties (years after they first got together) the only sane thing she could do was say yes. They had already fought expectations, and knew they were meant to be together forever.

And the rest they say is history.

The real way they meet is much less interesting but probably just as cliché. They both reached for last tin of tomatoes in their local supermarket, hands brushing lightly. She had told him he could have it, after all she was still only a student, what was another night of Chinese really going to do?

He'd refuse point blank, placing it in her small shopping basket.

"May stop mum from cooking," he had grinned, making her lightly giggle. They had made small talk, him telling her about the constant home cooking that was often unwanted, whilst she told him she'd do anything for a home cooked meal, however awful. Takeaways were becoming incredibly repetitive.

"I'll make you something," She was astounded, unsure of what to make of the offer. "My mum may not be winning masterchef any time soon but I could help whip something up."

It was stupid, he could be anyone, why would he think she would let him in to her flat. But the offer was a good one and although it was mid-afternoon she was tired and somewhat lazy after her lecture that morning.

What the hell she had thought. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and her flatmates would all be in anyway so what was the harm. She had nodded, typing her number into his phone whilst rattling off her address.

"Be round at six," she had murmured into his ear, skin tingling as their hands touched.

And the rest they say is history.

_I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter.  
The next chapter should be updated on Wednesday and is a lot darker and a lot longer than previous oneshots. Remember if anyone has any ideas, simply review or pm me. So far the feedback I've been getting has been absolutely lovely and I want to thank everyone who has taken time out of their day to review, it means a lot. _

_Next Chapter – Means to an End – Sometimes, despite how much medicine you're given, how much time you spend in hospital, the illness is still stronger. Is still the one to win. Ziggy learns this first hand when he's diagnosed with the very thing that killed his dad. _


	4. Means to an End

_Means to an End _

_This is definitely my longest one-shot so far and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. It is also the darkest and isn't happy in the slightest. It isn't gory or violent but deals with how one would cope when diagnosed with a life-shattering illness. _

_I'm focusing on a different brother again, and this is the first time I've written Ziggy, which I found difficult at certain points. Unlike the other Roscoe's we have only seen Ziggy on a very shallow level on the show, normally when he's flirting with a girl, or talking about a girl. Or anything to do with a girl really. _

_As a viewer, we know very little about him, though I do believe there is more than meets the eye with him, he's just a bit naïve and innocent still, enjoying life for what it is. This story though, isn't about enjoying life for what it is, so Ziggy for obvious reasons is different how he seems in the show. I hope his reactions to his diagnosis and illness are realistic and I hope that you all enjoy this chapter. _

It started off slowly at first. He would wake up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, gasping for breath. Ziggy had shrugged it off when it began, the winter had been a harsh one so far (and it was only early November) and as such Freddie had taken to leaving the heater in their joint bedroom on all night. Pair that with the radiator (which was also on for the whole night) and their bedroom could easily be mistaken for a sauna. No wonder he was waking up, practically dripping with sweat.

But when the extra heater broke, with the weather only got colder and he was still waking up at 2 in the morning everyday, dripping with sweat, Ziggy couldn't help the niggling feeling at the back of his head. He pushed it away though, things were finally going right for the family and he wasn't going to ruin it by being paranoid. Even if this was how it had started Dad. Memories of seeing him in the kitchen when he would go to get a glass of water, practically climbing into the fridge to keep cool, flashing in his mind at random intervals, though he did his best to push it back.

He's still trying to kid himself when he gets wasted after just two cans of lager and ends up spending the next day in bed due to a raging hangover. Everyone laughed at him, told him it was his own fault for drinking too much. He didn't have the heart to tell them that he drank less than anyone in the club, even the designated drivers. It was because he hadn't eaten that day, that's all, he tells himself. Nothing to worry about.

The constant exhaustion and weight loss are the final straw though. He's twenty four years old for god's sake, he shouldn't be tired after fourteen solid hours of sleep and he definitely shouldn't be losing seven pounds in the space of a week.

He made an appointment with a local doctor (not Lindsey or Browning though), but he doesn't tell anyone. The whole family went through hell and back when Dad was diagnosed right till the day he... He's not going to scare them, it isn't fair, especially if it turns out to be a false alarm. If it does turn out to be real, well he'll cross that bridge when he gets to it.

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Ziggy gets to the hospital minutes before his appointment. It had been difficult getting away that morning though, both Joe and Freddie had kept asking him questions. Where was he going? Why had he taken the day off when they were fully booked at the garage?

He'd managed to fob them off with a lame-ass excuse, not that he could remember when he said to them, but it had worked and that was all that mattered. As he waited for his name to be called out, he can't help but feel nervous.

This day could go one of two ways for him. The first (and much more preferable) way would be if the doctor told him it was a false alarm. Nothing to worry about. Then he could go on his merry way and no-one would be any the wiser.

The second option would have consequences for everyone. Who knows what would happen to him, but he really wasn't concerned about himself. No, the main worry was, what would it do to his family. They'd already suffered so much, watching as their own dad went through the same thing, slowly fading away till he was a shell of the man he used to be, finally passing away in the hospital, attached to dozens of wires.

Ziggy had barely recognised him in his last few weeks.

The appointment as a whole is a bit hazy. He can't remember the finer details, no matter how hard he thinks about it. He told the doctor about his symptoms, told him how people in his family had suffered from cancer, but he can't remember the doctor's responses. Can't remember what he said, or what he wrote down.

He knows that tests were taken. A blood sample and a simple biopsy. Nothing major, and nothing that took him a lot of time to recover, meaning he would seem nice and normal for his family that night.

After that, it was a waiting game. Every-time his phone went off, Ziggy would jump out of his skin. His family had noticed too, they all thought it was a girl though. Teased him mercilessly about it.

_Must be someone special if she's got you acting like that _they said, not noticing the way he would freeze, the painted on smile and forced laughter.

Not even a week passes before the doctor calls with the results, but it felt like so much longer. He got the afternoon off with ease and made his way back to the hospital. Before the doctor has even opened his mouth, Ziggy knows it's bad. He knows he's ill now, a sick feeling of dread washing over him.  
But then the doctor began speaking and it was so much worse than even he had imagined.

Hodgkin lymphoma.  
Could die in months if left untreated.  
Chemotherapy  
Radiation Therapy  
Stem Cell Transplantation

The words echo in his head, going round and round. The rest of the appointment goes by in a blur, though he remembers going for the MRI and PET scan startlingly well. The doctor informed him that the results would take 24 hours to go through, but then he would know how far the cancer had spread and what treatment he would need.

He doesn't remember driving back to the house, doesn't remember setting the table, but suddenly he's sat around it, mechanically chewing at mum's lasagne, the rest of the family laughing and joking around him.

"You okay Zig? You're awfully quiet." Sandy said, shooting him a concerned look.

"I'm fine," he replied, trying to stop his voice from shaking. Because what else is he meant to say? He's not fine though, he wants to cry, to scream at the unfairness of it all but he can't. Not yet, it still hasn't sunk in. Even though he had been expecting something similar to happen, he hadn't prepared for it. How can one prepare for news like this anyway. Short answer, they can't.

All he wants to do is crawl into bed and ignore the problem, but he can't. That won't fix anything. He needs to tell them, his family that is. He can't keep this to himself, and they'd notice when he starts chemo, the hair loss would be a pretty good clue. But it's how he's going to break the news that is the difficult part, the family as a whole had suffered way too much and he hated being the one to bring more bad news. He needed to do it though, they needed to wrap their heads around it, they deserved to know.

Mind made up, he waits at the table till everyone has finished. As the others begin piling out of the room, he clears his throat, catching their attention.

"I need to tell you all something," he begin, voice catching slightly. "Can we go to the living room?" They all nod, a look of worry and concern gracing their faces as they all grab a seat and wait.

"I went to the doctor's last week," he said, choking out the words. "I've uhh, I've been losing weight without trying, I've a really sore cough and I'm tired all the time." Sandy had paled slightly, she was familiar with the symptoms, but Ziggy couldn't keep his eyes on her. Couldn't see the realisation hit or the disappointment flood through her.

"The doctor took some tests and they came back today. I've been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma." Silence fills the room as the news hits them. No-one asks what it is, they all know. All watched someone they loved grow weaker and weaker as the disease ravaged through him, slowly destroying him until he could no longer hold on.

"How advanced is it?" Sandy asked, her voice hitching as tears streamed down her face. Ziggy made his way to her, kneeling by her side and hugging her tightly. She's trying to be strong, he can see it, but it's difficult. She's trying to stop the tears, be strong and hopeful for the family, but they all know she'll lock herself in her room later on, sobbing for the remainder of the night.

"They don't know yet. I got an MRI and a PET scan done today, so I should get the results tomorrow."

"We'll go with you," Freddie said, like mum he was trying to stay strong, but Ziggy could see through it straight away.

He only nodded, there was no point arguing with them. It wasn't worth it, they had to be there, to witness it. It would make it easier to accept, make it seem real for them. Who was he to deny them of that.

The rest of the night is a sombre event. Everyone cries, some more than others. Sandy, Joe and Freddie let a few tears escape but manage to keep control of their emotions. He understand it, for so long all three of them have had to keep the family going, they had to be the strong ones whilst himself, Jason and Robbie were still kids. They remember Dad's passing much more clearly too, the twins were too young to understand what was really happening, they didn't understand why their Daddy was losing all his hair and was too tired to play football with them and Ziggy wasn't much better.

He was told the basics of it but not much more, Joe and Freddie though. Sandy told them more, and what she didn't they found on the internet. It had aged both of them and once their dad was gone they split the fatherly role between them.

It made sense that they felt the need to be strong, neither of them had dropped the parent role that had been thrust upon them at such a young age, but Ziggy knew they'd let their defences down when they were alone.

That night, after everyone was too exhausted to stay up, he made sure to loiter in the bathroom for a while to give Freddie his much needed privacy. And if he finally lets some tears shed, well who's to know?

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The next day finds the entirety of the family sat in the waiting room. It's a Saturday so Robbie and Jason don't have school and the garage was left shut due to the circumstances. When Ziggy's name is called, he enters the doctor's room slowly. His heart is thumping loudly and he thinks he's going to be sick.

The doctor gives him the results straight away and then spends the next five minutes talking about treatments and what the best thing to do would be. The words merge and he can't take it in. Its worse than he thought it would be and all he can focus on the is the slip of paper in front of him, the results of the scan jumping out at him. He's on autopilot, asks relevant questions, signs the corrects forms, he even manages to shake the doctor's hand and give him a smile when he leaves the office.

"So, what did he say?" Joe asked, as Ziggy sat down in the seat next to him. He notices that his hands are shaking, as he looks down at the results in front of him.

"It's at stage two, urm which means that it's spread some parts of my tissue and a lymph node."

"Stage two isn't that advanced though?" Jason says, though it feels like a question, making sure he hasn't got his facts mixed up. "That should be treated pretty easily."

Ziggy nodded, managing a smile for his family. "I'm starting chemotherapy next week, it should get rid of it."

No-one comments on the fact that it may not help at all. Bar Lindsey, they've all been in the situation before (and she's dealt with hundreds of patients going through the same thing), they know that hope is the best way to go about it. Because if you haven't got hope, what have you got?

It doesn't make him any less terrified.

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The first chemo session is awful. It's a few days after he got his MRI and PET results back and Ziggy is pleasantly surprised by how quickly it was sorted. He'd only allowed Joe to go with him, and that was because he knew he would need a lift to and from the hospital and even then he was under strict instruction to go to work straight after. The others had all protested, not wanting to leave him at his time of need but he knew it was for the best and told them so.

His first session fell onto a weekday and they all had work. The twins couldn't miss school, their exams were way too important and he wasn't going to have them failing on his conscience. Sandy's and Lindsey's jobs were far too important and they couldn't take the day off whenever he felt like it, they did bring in the majority of the money for the family after all.

Freddie had been the most difficult to convince though, and they'd argued long and hard the night before. He was finally worn down when Ziggy pointed out they had a half of a dozen cars to work on, and if they weren't ready in time, the garage would lose much needed business. He hadn't been happy.

It was with a sense of dread that he walked into the hospital that day. He knew the chemo would hurt and generally wreak havoc on his body. He'd seen first-hand what it had done to his dad. Whilst the chemo attacked the cancer cells and got rid of them, it also went for the normal cells, meaning there were many horrible side effects.

He would become ill, he knew that. All the research he had done on the treatment told him the same thing. He would easily get infections, lose his hair and would feel even weaker than he was at present. But the doctor had informed him it was the best option to take, though it wasn't going to be pretty.

When the situation had sunk in, he had done further research into the disease and the chemotherapy, the information his mum gave him all those years ago simply not enough anymore.

He had found out that he had ticked many of the risk factor boxes. He was male, in the typical age group and was related to someone who had suffered from the same disease. It really wasn't a surprise he had contracted it.

He also knew that the survival rate was pretty high, especially in the earlier stages, and with that new piece of information his hope once again grew. But the survival rate was only high because people got treatment (I.e chemotherapy).

He'd had to shake his fear of the treatment once and for all (his dad had become almost unrecognisable with his skeletal body and pale face even now it haunted his dreams) and had spent the week preparing himself.

Even with all the preparation and research he conducted it isn't enough. The pain is shocking and he spent the two days after the treatment in the bathroom, throwing up every few hours. It finally dies down, and three days later he begins to feel more like himself, though he's still slightly shaky.

When he feels like he can stand, he moves to the mirror, examining himself. There doesn't seem to be a lot of change, his face is pale and he has massive bags under his eyes, but he looks like he's just had the flu, not extensive treatment. His hair is okay too, though he spends almost ten minutes just running his hands through it, making sure it was all still there.

As he struggles with a bowl of tomato soup later that night, he really hopes it true what they say. That the first session is the worst of the lot, because he really can't deal with being that sick for that long so regularly. "How you feeling Zig?" Robbie asks, shooting a worried glance at him as he pushed the half full bowl away.

"Better," he admitted, though it probably doesn't do a lot. The whole family are trying to deal with his illness as best as they can but it isn't easy. They've already lost so much and Ziggy can't blame the way they're acting, he would do the same if he was in their situation.

"Well you're looking great," Lindsey said smiling. He knows it's crap, he looks awful but he smiles at his future sister in law. She sounds sincere at least and Ziggy knows that in context he probably looks ok.

"Watch out there Joe, seems like your missus has a thing for me," he chuckles, winking at Lindsey who only giggles.

}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

A month into his chemotherapy is when Ziggy's hair starts falling out. It happens quite suddenly, he goes to bed with all his hair on his head, but when he wakes up the next morning a large portion of it is on the pillow.

When Freddie wakes up, the first thing he sees is his younger brother sat cross legged on the bed, a clump of hair in his hand. He leaves the room quickly, fighting back the tears and returns with an electric razor in hand.

"I'm going to look fucking awful as a skin head," Ziggy jokes, though it's obvious he's trying not to cry himself. "You can do the honours." Freddie nods and plugs it in, mechanically moving the razor across his brother's head, trying not to wince as it falls away in clumps.

They clean the hair away quickly and when they make their way downstairs, Sandy almost starts crying there and then. Instead, she puts down the pan she was holding and hugs him tightly, whispering comforting nothings into his ear.

The chemo isn't getting any easier either. He's seems to be constantly running a fever, yet is always freezing cold. Gone are the days of wearing nothing but a t-shirt and shorts, despite it being one of the warmest springs, he's constantly shivering and has taken to wearing at least three layers of clothing. Sometimes that's not even enough.

He's losing even more weight now, and he's had to tighten his belt by two holes otherwise his trousers would constantly be around his ankles. The pain is the worst though, before he would just be itchy and tired, but now there's a constant ache throughout his whole body that's always present even when he's sleeping, which he does a lot of. Some nights he falls asleep on the sofa just after dinner, not even having the strength to make it up the stairs.

His family pretty much leave him to it, thank God. They don't push him to eat more, though Ziggy can tell it's taking all of his mum's self restraint to not put more food on his plate. He'd only throw it back up again. Instead she throws herself back into her job, signing up to work more and more shifts, only staying at home to eat and sleep.

They've all seen it before, when Dad was ill she did exactly the same thing. She was only home when she needed to be, and even signed up for the hated night shifts. They know why she does it, she has to keep her mind off of it. If she ignores it for long enough it may go away, and if not at least she doesn't have to see her son slowly dying.

He has good days every now and again (though they are becoming rare occurrences as the treatment carries on) where he's strong enough to leave the house and help out at the garage. He's only allowed to work on the desk though, and Ziggy never thought he'd see the day where he actually yearned to work on a car, he wouldn't even mind getting his favourite shirt dirty, but it's impossible. Even on his best days, he's not strong enough to do manual labour.

What scares him (and the rest of the family) is how different he's reacting to the treatment compared to his dad. At first his dad had been fine, he had seemed to be healthy soon after each treatment and was able to do as he pleased.

It took ages for the cancer to get really bad, but even then, Dad was sick for ages. This hasn't happened for him and at least one part has accepted that. He's kind of grateful even, grateful it won't be dragged out for years. At least he'll die quickly.

Three months after his first chemo session (and with two weeks to go till his final one), every part of him has accepted it. The whole thing is hurting his family more than it's hurting him, they all still have hope, believe he can get better, and the hope is the worst thing. Because he not just sick anymore, he's dying.

And there's no getting away from that. He doesn't know how long he's got left, but he knows, deep down, that his days are numbered.

}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

"I'm so sorry David, but the chemotherapy has been ineffective." The news isn't shocking, not in the slightest. He'd prepared himself to hear that very thing when the final chemotherapy session had taken place and once again when more tests were taken to see if the cancer had been beaten.

But it still feels like a blow to the gut. No matter how often he had looked over the situation, had tried to be logical about the whole thing, there had always been one last glimmer of hope, telling him that he could be wrong and he was actually getting better.

At the doctor's words, that last bit of hope is effectively squished. Sandy is next to him (the only family member he allowed to join him, whilst the others were told to wait outside), her grip on his hand deathly tight.

"There must be something we can do," she says, her eyes flashing with unshed tears. "That can't be it."

"We could go for another round of chemotherapy, at the very least it would prolong David's life for a few more months and could beat the cancer into submission though nothing would be definite. It would also put you through unnecessary pain. The cancer is far too advanced for Radiation Therapy or Stem Cell Transplantation to have any real effect as well."

His mum's grip on his hand only tightens and it takes all of Ziggy's self restraint to not protest. He won't though, his mum isn't meaning to hurt him and it's probably keeping her from trashing the doctor's office. He'll have a hell of a bruise there later though.

"There are of course experimental trials that I can sign you up to-"

"No," Ziggy says, speaking up for the first time since he got his results back. "I don't want trial treatment, if anything it'll be worse." His mum's looking at him like he's finally snapped and looks ready to say so, but the doctor looks somewhat understanding. He's probably seen hundreds of people who are going through the same thing as he is, probably heard the same thing. He knows when someone's accepted that nothing can be done.

"How long would I have if we stopped all treatment?" He asks, trying to stop his voice from wobbling.

"Months," The doctor replies, and Ziggy sees Sandy biting her lip to stop from crying out. "Between six and eight depending on how long it takes for the cancer to spread through your body."

Ziggy nods in reply, trying to keep a calm head when he's just been told he'll be dead in a year. Looking up, he meets the doctor's eye, completely avoiding looking over at his mum who has gone as pale as a sheet at the news.  
"I'm going to stop all treatment," he finally says. "I want these last few months for me, I want to be with my family, at my home, not stuck in a hospital too weak to do anything."

Sandy tries to persuade him to rethink his option, tells him that he's still got his whole life ahead of him, he should at least consider it. The doctor throws in good points every now and again, but he can already see that Ziggy's made his mind up, only amplified by the fact that he easily shoots down every single one of his mum's arguments.

"I don't want to be like dad," he tells her, turning fully to look at her, so she can see the pure sincerity in his eyes. "He was ill for years and in so much pain for so long. I can't do that mum, I just can't. It's bad enough that it'll be for months, but at least it gives me time to say my good-byes. It's time I need, but I don't think I could cope with much more."

Sandy finally drops it, tears pouring down her face as she hugs him tightly. The doctor gives them time to cool down, telling them to give him a call if they need any help before they make their way out of the office.

The others know it isn't good with one look at the pair, though it only gets worse when Ziggy tells them that he's stopping all treatment. There's a lot of tears, a lot of shouting and arguing between the family, but eventually they're all worn down. They all know why Ziggy's doing what he's doing, they all saw their dad slowly wilt away from years of suffering, and they'd all do the same as he was if in the situation. It doesn't make it any easier to accept though.

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The next week is probably one of the worst in Ziggy's life. There's a lot of tears, anger and arguments from everyone and most of it (scratch that, all of it) is directed at him. Everytime he goes to bed (which is a lot), or whenever he wakes from a nap, nine times out of ten he'll turn to see Freddie staring at him, always with the same look in his eyes.

How could you?

He never voices the question, though there's no need, they both know what he's thinking. Know that he's scared, and maybe a little disgusted by how quickly Ziggy made the decision to stop all treatment, to let himself die with no argument.

Robbie's ended up getting even more volatile than before and it physically pains Ziggy to see his little brother react in the way he was. At least once a day he starts an argument at home (and Ziggy knows for a fact it's way more at school). It'll be about anything, not changing the channel over when he asked, not turning the hot water on for the shower or leaving the bedroom window open when he told Jason not to, but it always leads to the same thing.

Why are you leaving us?

He starts screaming and shouting at him, demanding answers to impossible questions. Most of the time, Jason is there to try and calm him down. Sometimes it works, he manages to grab Robbie and drag him out of the room, other times it doesn't.

Those are the times when Jason himself cracks, starting off trying to stop Robbie, but then ending up next to him, asking the same questions. People often see the twins as two opposites, but when they're on the same side in an argument they're a force to be reckoned with by sheer will power and force alone.

Joe isn't much better mind, though he has more maturity and wisdom than the twins do and knows when to bite his tongue. It doesn't mean that Ziggy can't see the questions burning in his eyes, that is when Joe makes eye contact with him. Since learning that he was dying, Joe had spent as little time as he could with the family, preferring to hole himself up in his room, only Lindsey allowed to come and go as she pleased.

Anyone else that tried to enter the room and talk to Joe instantly regretted it, simply due to the fact that he snapped if they even dared to breath too loudly.

Lindsey wasn't faring much better, though she seemed to understand Ziggy's reasoning more than the others did. He wasn't sure if that was because she was a doctor or because she wasn't family and so it was easier for her to step back and look at the situation rationally. He didn't really care though, it helped to know that at least someone understood him and his choices.

Despite not being blood related, Lindsey felt just as much part of the family as all the others. Ziggy truly saw her as a sister and was devastated that he would never get to see Joe's and Lindsey's children or get to see them on their wedding day.

The worst thing however, was seeing his mum react to the news. If he had thought that she hadn't been spending a lot of time at home when he was first diagnosed, it was nothing compared to this. She only came home for a few hours to sleep, preferring to spend her time at the hospital or in the garage working on the finances. Short story, she was running herself ragged.

She wasn't letting herself come to terms to the news and it broke Ziggy's heart to see his mum hurting in the way she was.

It was devastating to see all of his family hurting. He knew he needed to do something, to provide them all with closure as the months passed. They needed to accept that he wouldn't be here for much longer, and none of them would do it if he didn't have a helping hand.

But he wanted something for them to hold onto, something they could look at difficult times, to hopefully help them with whatever they're struggling with.

He begins to plan, working on what he can say to each family member to make them feel a little bit better. It was a long process, this would be his goodbye to them after all, he needed them to all be perfect, even the order in which he went. But he wasn't ready quite yet, he still had time to say his goodbyes, and this wasn't it. He had more time to work on them.

The first month after the final chemo session is good to Ziggy, appearance wise anyway. Some of the weight he lost during the treatments has been regained and his hair is finally starting to grow back again.

He no longer looks like a walking corpse and it gives everyone the hope that he may live longer than the doctor had predicated. It's false hope though, everyone knows he has an expiry date but the hope and belief does help, make the days seem a little brighter.

There's no hope for Ziggy, he can feel himself getting weaker with every passing day, can feel himself fading. He's been predicated six to eight months left, but he'll be surprised if he makes it five at the rate he's going. He's definitely never going to see another Christmas anyway.

He has to step down from the garage too, which is probably one of the more heartbreaking things he's had to deal with since his diagnosis. But he's too weak and even answering the phone and sorting out appointments was becoming too much for him. It was difficult walking away on the final day, he'd put so much time and effort into the place, making sure the business stayed strong after the move, and to have to leave with a whimper and not a bang was heart-wrenching.

The doctor's downgrade his time again, saying he should make it through September at least. Three months, that's all he's got left. The cancer's aggressive, oddly so, they say. Ziggy knows this already, he's the one experiencing it, feeling it weaken his joints and give him terrible coughs.

He's just annoyed because he has a month and a half less than he was promised and that sucks. He knows it's time though, he needs to start working on his goodbyes. He can't afford to wait any longer, and his family deserve that closure.

He's not giving into the illness, he knows that, but he is accepting his fate. He wants to leave gracefully not kicking and screaming, and damn it, he will die with some dignity left intact.

}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

As the months pass, he begins planning. He makes arrangements for his upcoming funeral, gets his will in order, cleans all the crap out of his room, anything and everything he can do that will make his death that bit easier for his family.

He can't do a lot anymore, he's too weak for a lot of things, but he can do this final thing, he can lessen the pain, even if it's just a little bit.

He begins writing up his good-byes too. Some may call him a coward, by not saying his goodbyes in person, but he would prefer this. The whole family are a talkative, argumentative lot and the chance of them interrupting him as he goes is more than likely.

With the letters, than at least they will always have a bit of him with them, maybe even look at them in times of need. If he can continue helping them out in the future, once he's long gone, then his life will have been more than worth it.

}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

As the third week of September begins, Ziggy knows the end is near. He can feel it, through the pure aching of his bones. He knows he won't make it the end of the month and he knows he has to make this time count more than anything. His family need the good memories, need to remember the good times and that won't happen if he spends his last days holed up in his room.

He gets up when the others all do, managing to eat some breakfast, something he hasn't been able to stomach in months. It eases the tension around the table, reminds the others of happier times, when Ziggy wasn't dying, and that's what he wants. He needs them to remember him like this.

Once the others have all left for work, he normally makes his way back to bed, content to rest whilst the others are away. If someone is home, he'll normally go to the lounge with them, watching a movie as he wrapped himself around whoever was home.

They'd normally talk, about anything and everything. He tells Joe about all his plans for the funeral and showed him what he wanted to happen. He laughs with Robbie and Jason, looking back onto the Christmas of '06 when he tripped and fell into the trifle. He plays fifa against Freddie and Lindsey, and although he knows that they let him beat them, he takes pride in the win. He eats whatever his mum cooks up in the kitchen with no complaint, managing to clean the plate each time as they talk about Dad.

It's the best week he's had in a long time, the same for all the family and he's glad he gets to see them happy one last time. When he wakes up, with only four days left of the month to go, he knows that this is it. He won't be there for the next morning, and as he gets changed, he grabs the letters that he's been hiding in the bottom of the wardrobe and places them on the top of his bed.

This day has to count more than any other, and he's just glad it's a weekend, meaning that everyone will be there with him. Sandy's made a fry-up for breakfast and he eats more than he has in weeks, earning a smile from everyone. After breakfast the whole family piles into the living room and put a movie on. Not that anyone pays it any mind, instead they spend their time talking and laughing. Reminiscing over good times and planning Lindsey and Joe's upcoming wedding. No-one talks about how Ziggy won't be there to see it.

He still has so much to say, but no enough time to say it all, he probably would never have enough time though, he never shuts up. He's just glad he's been able to write his letters, say goodbye then. He's glad he's had time to prepare, to make sure his family will be okay without him and he thinks they will be.

Just as mid-afternoon rolls round, is when Ziggy stops fighting the tiredness. He's been exhausted for so long, but he knows that when he goes to sleep that will be it. There will be no more, but the room has finally fallen into a comfortable silence and he's ready. He isn't scared anymore, it's something that needs to happen.

"I love you guys," he murmurs softly, getting comfortable from where he's lying on the sofa. His head is pillowed in his mum's lap and she's playing with his hair gently, whilst his legs are on top of Freddie's. The others are all in various other parts of the room, but they're all comfy, all laid back. It's the perfect final day.

Finally he lets himself fall into sleep, the sound of his family lightly laughing being the last thing he hears as the darkness takes over.

The others all continue talking lightly, trying not to wake Ziggy, though not even half an hour after he fell asleep, Sandy stiffened, watching her son's chest intently. When it stay perfectly still, she lets out a broken sob, trying to find his pulse desperately. Her fear alerts the rest of the family and they all stiffen as they watch her. She shakes her head minutely, letting them know that he's gone and everyone breaks down as one. He's looks peaceful, a small smile on his face, permanently placed there and all the pain had been washed away. That doesn't stop the heartbreak that travels through the whole family and they all clutch to one another as the loss finally hits them.

}}}}}}}}}}}

The rest of the day had been a long one and although he's long since exhausted, it's only at 1am that Freddie calls it a night. He makes it into his room, the steady flow of tears that had been there since the afternoon only increasing when he laid eyes of Ziggy's side of the room. His bed is made, but the clothes from the previous day were still strewn on the floor. His bedside table is still as cluttered as always, he doesn't know why he's so surprised by that fact.

He makes his way over to the bed, taking in the aftershave that only Ziggy used, a whole flood of new memories of his brother making their way into his mind. Through his blurred vision he sees it, a small stack of envelopes placed on Ziggy's pillow. He picks them up, reading through each name, he knows what they are before he's even gone through them all and he races out of the room.

He knocks on all the bedroom doors, calling for everyone to come down to the living room where the twins are still sat, curled up on one of the sofas. They look up, the confusion on everyone's face.

"Ziggy left us letters," Freddie explained, waving the envelopes in the air. The change in everyone is instant and they're all soon wide awake. Freddie gives each letter to their respective owner and as one, they all tear open the envelopes, silently reading.

_Lindsey_

_Make sure to look after Joe for me. He'll protest and say he's a big boy when you try but stick at it yeah? When Dad died he went completely off the rails, you saw that when you first met him, but you were the one to bring him back. You brought the Joe that we had all known and loved back and for that I'm eternally grateful. _

_It probably means that you'll be the only one to keep him sane, it's going to be hard work but don't ever give up. He's got so much more to lose and I dread to think what will happen if he does lose it all. _

_You have been like a sister to me these last few years, and I can only hope you viewed me as family as well. You came in and brought life and laughter to us, promise you'll continue to do so now I'm gone. _

_I don't want you to cry too much at my passing, you have a brand new life to start with Joe, so don't even think about stopping it because of me. Though at least one of your children should be named after me, though they may not be able to deal with such high levels of awesomeness. _

_Love, Ziggy. _

_Jason _

_If I know you at all, as you're reading this you'll probably be thinking how unfair the whole thing is, and how you would do anything to swap. Well over the last few months, I've learnt that life is anything but fair, but you need to do your best to carry on, which is what I need you to do now. _

_I've been training you up as my little wingman for the past few years and now I'm gone it's time for you to take centre stage. You've got the Roscoe charm Jase, there's no denying it. Good genes that's what it is. But with Joe all loved up with Lindsey, Freddie doing what he can to get our dear sister in law out of his system and by that I mean he's fucking anyone in his vicinity with moody sex and don't get me started on Robbie. He's a real love'em and leave'em one with the romantic knowledge of a teaspoon. _

_That means it's all up to you, you charm them, wine and dine 'em and make them feel like they're the only out there for you. Don't fuck with their feelings, that was always my problem, I got in too deep too fast, but then bricked it when they started showing signs of real interest. _

_If it doesn't work out that's not your fault, but you're the best hope this family for a real jack the lad now I'm gone. _

_Good luck Jase, they'll sure as hell need it._

_Love, Ziggy._

_Robbie_

_I'm writing this letter to remind you to always be yourself, even if it does get difficult at times. I can't imagine it's easy having Jason as your twin, and although __she doesn't mean to, mum puts a lot of pressure on you because of it. You've made a lot of mistakes and and I know you act out a lot because you think you have all this pressure to do well in school and to be well behaved but you don't. _

_Mum loves you because you're you, Robbie Roscoe, not because you're just like Jason. Don't take it out on him either, he doesn't have a malicious bone in his body and wouldn't ever try to make you look bad. He loves you mate and everything he does is done for you. I guess I'm just saying look out for him, don't let him get pushed around._

_You're perfect just as you are, warts and all._

_Love Ziggy _

_Freddie_

_I guess I've always been closest to you out of everyone, which is why I don't feel guilty telling you this (also, by the time you'll be reading this, I'll be dead so you won't be able to do a lot to me anyway), but please, get over Lindsey. _

_Don't worry, none of the others have noticed (except maybe Jason, but he's always been really good at that sort of stuff) but I have. I've seen the way you look at her, and I'm not saying you'll do anything, I guess this is just in case. _

_She and Joe are good together, and please don't do anything that will hurt them. You deserve someone who can really love you and I know she's somewhere out there. Hell, maybe you've already met her you sly dog! _

_Don't do anything stupid when I'm gone, and stay out of trouble big bro _

_Love Ziggy. _

_Joe_

_When Dad died, you did so much for me, and what I'm telling you here may do just a little to pay you back. Now I'm gone, I don't want you doing what you did when it was Dad. You were so angry for so many years because he left us, and although you hid it when you were with us, we could all still see it. _

_I don't want you being like that now, I want you to mourn me, I want you to cry but I don't want you to latch onto those feelings of anger and desperation like you have done previously. It's unhealthy and doesn't help anyone _

_You have Lindsey now and she deserves so much better. You two are getting married soon (and I'm so sorry for missing your wedding) and no doubt, one day you'll move out and start your own family. _

_She needs you more than anyone and please don't push her away. Talk to her about it, it doesn't make you weak, it shows that you trust and love her enough to open up to her. _

_Please don't do anything stupid. _

_Love Ziggy. _

_Mum_

_This letter is probably the hardest one to write. I have so much I want to say to you, but I don't know how to form the words, or enough paper to write it all down. I could have never asked for a better mum (you're cooking could have used some work though), you were always there when I needed you, always with the right words of advice. _

_I only want to ask you one final thing, please don't do what you did when dad died. It felt like I barely every saw you (and that may be the child in my grossly exaggerating everything but you get the picture). It felt like you were always at work or at Dad's grave and we all missed you so much. _

_Please, don't do that again, they'll all need you to keep them together and they'll want to do everything they can do to help you, just let them this time. _

_Love, Ziggy. _

Everyone finished reading their letters around the same time, all holding back the sobs, though they were quickly released. They all clung to one another, sobbing for the loss of one of their own. As time passed, they began looking back on the happier memories, laughing at the more ridiculous ones. The letters were a lifeline for all of them, it was a permanent reminder of what Ziggy wanted for them, provided them with some much needed closure.  
Maybe they would be okay after all.

_I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, even if it was a sad one. _

_There won't be any updates till mid-August because I go away on holiday tomorrow. This means that if anyone has any prompts, pm or review them quickly so I can write them all up when I'm away. I've got around four to do and it'll keep me busy. _

_Next story: Doctor, doctor – Jason gets ill__– prompted by H20xSpelboundfanx (don't worry, it's a lot fluffier than this chapter) _


	5. Doctor Doctor

_Doctor Doctor _

_This chapter has been prompted by H20xSpelboundfanx. They prompted - __Jason is ill (flu possibly) and falls asleep on the sofa and he's then carried to bed by either joe or Freddie. _

_I hope you enjoy :) _

Having the flu was awful. Having the flu on the weekend was even worse, the sacred time off from the hellish place that was known as school was filled with sneezes, coughs and bed rest and 99% of the time, you would be fully recovered by Monday morning, just in time for double chemistry.

It really was Robbie's fault, Jason thought to himself, grabbing a tissue as a violent sneeze shook through his whole body. His brother had gotten the bug (which had been passing through Chester like there was no tomorrow), halfway through the school week, meaning he was fully recovered by Friday morning, not that he had gone to school mind.

On the Saturday morning Jason knew as soon as he woke up, with his blocked nose and the worst headache he could ever remember having, that Robbie had passed on he same bloody flu that everyone had been lamenting about. He thought Robbie had been exaggerating when he had been complaining about how rubbish he had felt, but he_ really_ hadn't.

Which meant that Robbie was currently in hysterics and taking the mick every time he entered their shared bedroom to find Jason huddled under a mix of blankets and tissues. The fifth time he entered the room in the space of two hours, he let out a small laugh at his brother's predicament.

"Thought it weren't so bad Jase? Come on, up and at 'em," Jason weakly snarled as his previous comments were thrown back at him.

"Shove off Robbie," he managed to groan, curling into a tighter ball.  
"No can do mate. You're gonna have to move, Mum wants to make the bed."  
"You're kidding," Jason asked, refusing to move. "I don' care, I'm not moving. She can do it round me."

"Yeah cause that's going to happen," Robbie shot back, rolling his eyes. "Look bro, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. It's your choice." When Jason stayed put Robbie only sighed, whipping the duvet off the bed with no warning, only laughing at his brother's outrage. Finally Jason stopped his grumbling long enough to stand and slowly made his down the stairs, where he promptly head-dived onto the couch, barely missing a shocked Ziggy.

"What the hell are you doing out of bed?" Sandy exclaimed, rushing from the kitchen and staring in shock at her youngest, who was lightly shaking where he lay.

"Robbie said you were gonna make the bed," Jason grumbled, his voice somewhat incomprehensible due to him refusing to move his head away from the sofa. This meant he didn't see the mixed looks of shock and outrage from his family and the gleeful look from Robbie. He did however, hear the uncontrollable laughter from his twin who could no longer suppress it and Sandy yelling at him, her tone furious.

"Wus happened?" he muttered, turning onto his back so he could better see what was happening around him.

"Robbie got you squirt," Joe chuckled, only laughing more as said brother began ducking and diving around the living room in a desperate attempt to avoid Sandy's wrath. "You didn't have to move."

Jason groaned again, feebly chucking a pillow in Robbie's direction, though it went wide and narrowly missed hitting a small glass ornament. "I hate you so much."

"Serves you right for being such a prat to me," Robbie snarked, wilting slightly at the glare that Sandy was directing towards him.

"You can go back to your room if you want love," she soothed.

"No I'm too weak," Jason cried dramatically, whacking his legs over Ziggy's ungracefully.

Rolling her eyes at Jason's protests, Sandy grabbed her coat from the side. "Right you ungrateful lot, I'm off to the shops. I need to get some things to make my infamous chicken soup." At his mum's words Jason sprung up, almost winding Ziggy in the process as his legs flailed wildly. He began protesting loudly, (Sandy only made chicken soup when one of her boys were ill, unsurprisingly it only succeeded in making them feel worse), though she paid him no mind, instead turning over to Robbie who had long since made himself comfortable on the nearest armchair.

"You're coming with me," She snapping, ignoring Robbie's grumblings until he caved and followed Sandy out of the front door.

Falling back onto the sofa, Jason looked over to Ziggy with a look of hope in his eyes. "Any chance that I can get away with not eating dinner because I'm too ill?"

"No chance mate," his older brother chuckled.,throwing Jason's feet off his legs so he could make his way to the DVD player, rifling through the vast amount of movies they had. "So, Marvel or Disney?"

}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Halfway through The Lady and the Tramp, Jason found himself drifting off though he was jolted awake by the arrival of Sandy and Robbie a while later, both weighed down by a numerous amount of shopping bags. He realised he must have been sleeping for a considerable amount of time as The Lion King was now playing and Freddie and Lindsey had appeared at some point and were crammed on the sofa with Joe.

The sleep must have done some good though, the pounding in his head had lessened considerably, though even thinking about eating the chicken soup that his mum was now making, made him feel suitably queasy once more. By the time the movie had ended Sandy had finished making dinner and was dishing up. As the family made their way to the table, Jason couldn't decide whether he would have preferred the burnt to a crisp toad in a hole to the specially made chicken soup which was dubiously bubbling.

"Cheers mum," Jason said, smiling weakly as he stared at the bowl in front of him. Taking a deep breath, he finally spooned a large portion of the soup into his mouth, trying not to gag at the vile taste and ignoring the snickering from his brothers.

Somehow, he wasn't sure how, but somehow he managed to empty the bowl that had been placed in front of him, the slightly nauseous feeling he had gained, worth it for the look of pride on his mum's face. "That was lovely mum," he smiled, hoping she wouldn't pick up on the lie. "I'm feeling better already."

"I'm glad sweetheart, you'll probably be able to go back to school on Monday."

"Oh joy," Jason deadpanned, making his way back to the living room, grabbing the sofa before anyone else could. Ziggy shot him a look of mock annoyance when he saw, though quickly shrugged, put in Tangled in the DVD player (for a house of mainly guys and with everyone over the age of 16 they really did have a lot of Disney) before making his way over to the other sofa. Eventually the others had all gathered into the living room, everyone watching intently. Like he had done earlier that day, Jason found himself drifting halfway through the movie, too tired to fight the exhaustion that was only present when one was ill.

The others didn't notice straight away, all too engrossed in the film, though as the ending credits rolled past Lindsey saw her future brother in law lightly snoozing. "Look Joe," she whispered, nudging him gently. The others all lightly laughed as Sandy stretched, moving over to Jason.

"I think it's time for bed," she smiled, trying to shake him awake though he only snuffled and tried to hit her away.

"He's a stubborn git ain't he?" Freddie laughed.

"Well he's not staying here all night, he'll do his back in," Sandy sighed.

"Well he ain't moving anytime soon is he," Joe remarked, arching an eyebrow. "Don't worry, I'll carry him, good thing he's light." Joe moved over, picking up the still sleeping Jason with ease. Before he could move over to the stairs, Robbie blocked his path, laughing triumphantly as he snapped a quick picture. Rolling his eyes at Robbie's childishness, Joe moved past and quickly made his way up the stairs, trying not to knock Jason against the wall. When he got to the bedroom, he carefully placed his younger brother onto his bed before he covered him with the duvet so he'd stay warm.

"Sleep tight little bro," he murmured gently, clicking the bedroom door lightly behind him.

_I hope everyone enjoyed that, leave a review and let me know. _

_Unfortunately I am running out of prompts, there are only four left for me to post and I've written three of them up already. If you want this story to continue then I am going to need your ideas, I love hearing them and I'll write whatever you want, no matter how silly you may think it is. So either review or message me :) _

_Next Story – Robbie's return to Hollyoaks Village _


	6. Robbie's Return

Robbie's Return

_Sorry no witty title this time, though I think we all know what's going to happen in this story. This takes place in the week that Freddie was stabbed, hope you enjoy it :) _

When Robbie got a phone-call from his mum one Thursday evening he wasn't exactly surprised. Despite him moving back to his Aunt's house at her insistence he had still kept in regular contact, exchanging texts daily with the whole family, though they all rang at least once a week too. To hear his mum sobbing brokenly down the phone (she hadn't been her like that since Dad died) was a surprise though, and not a nice one at that.

"Freddie's been stabbed," she finally managed, her words barely understandable through the heavy sobs. Robbie's blood turned to ice and all he could hear was his heartbeat.

"What? No, this isn't funny mum-"

"I'm not joking sweetheart," Sandy said, trying to sound comforting though the effect was slightly ruined every time her voice cracked. "The doctors are saying he should be okay, he's still in intensive care but he's awake."

Relief flooded through Robbie as he sat down on the bed, legs finally giving out, as he tried his best to calm his breathing.

"These last few days have made me realise how short life really is and how fragile too." Sandy continued and Robbie forced himself to pay attention, since being kicked out he'd been trying to turn over a new leaf. His resolutions included many things, one of which was to listen to mum whenever she was talking. So far he was doing quite well, but it wouldn't do him any good turning his back on those resolutions now. "I don't want to spend the rest of mine with my baby halfway across the country. We all miss you so much Robbie, especially Jason and I guess what I'm trying to say is... well will you come back to us."

And of course Robbie says yes. He misses his mum. He misses his brothers. He misses Lindsey. Really he just misses his family. And his auntie kind of smelt like cat biscuits 24/7. The very next day he's on a train back to Chester and the whole family is at the station, waiting for him. Even Freddie (and Robbie's kind of concerned because he only got stabbed a few days back so he should really be in hospital still.)

There's a lot of hugging and tears. He's not even sure who's crying any more, he just missed everyone so much and he can't believe that his mum gave him _another _chance, not after all the shit he's pulled in the past. But this is different, he can feel it. He's not going to blow this, he can't. He almost lost his family once before and it was the worst thing that had ever happened to him. He doesn't want to ever go through that again, so he can do this, he can stay out of trouble, he will do it, even if it kills him.

_A bit shorter than all previous chapters, but I hope everyone still likes it, it's quality not quantity after all. I just want to thank everyone for the amazing feedback I got last chapter, I asked you guys to send in some more prompts and you did not disappoint. _

_Before I posted that last chapter I had enough prompts to last me till chapter nine, which really isn't a lot, but now I have enough material for twenty chapters total. I'm so excited to get started on all of your ideas, they are all fabulous and it means so much that you trust me to take your ideas and write them up, I hope I don't disappoint. _

_As always, if you have an ideas review or pm me and just leave a review even if you don't. I love hearing feedback from you guys, it makes this story so much easier to write. _

_Next Story – My first Frindsey (well sort of) – unrequited love really is the worst sort, and Freddie's got plenty of experience of that. _


	7. The Pain of Unrequited Love

_The Pain of Unrequited Love _

_Like I said last chapter, this is my first Frindsey, though it really isn't a happy one, sorry guys! _

Freddie knows it wrong, loving her like he does. She's his brothers fiancée for god's sake. Joe and Lindsey love each other and they're going to have a family. But he can't help it. Can't stop the way he feels for her. She's not like any girl that he's ever met before (it's probably why Joe loves her too). She's funny and gorgeous. And absolutely perfect.

Even though it kills him, his love for her grows stronger by the minute, but he can keep control. Can paint the plastic smile on his face and play happy families. Can pretend he's excited when Joe asks him to be Best Man when all he wants is to be the groom, can pretend to be delighted when he learns Lindsey's pregnant, though he would do anything for the baby to be his. Pretending that's all he does, every day, no matter wherever he is. He can pretend he isn't in love with Lindsey Butterfield, his brother's fiancée.

Some days it gets too much for him though. He has to get out, remove himself from the situation before he does something really stupid. He normally ends up in the nearest club, drowning in the music and searching. Searching for someone just like her. He grabs a leggy brunette, loses himself in the music as they sway together. She'll drag him back to hers and for one night he can pretend. Pretend that this isn't a Sasha or a Jean or whatever she said her name was. But that it's her. Lindsey.

In the mornings (but sometimes it's before that, he won't have even gone to sleep yet) he can't pretend any more. Can't kid himself that she's chosen him, that they're going to run into the sunset and live happily ever after. This isn't her, just a randomer that he could pretend was her under the darkness of the night sky. He'll slip away quickly then, not even staying for her (whoever it turns out to be) to wake up.

Sometimes he believes it could be real. They'll be at opposite sides of the room, but their eyes will just meet. Neither will say anything, but for just a moment it just them. No-one else is there, just them as the world melts away beneath their feet. Freddie can feel the chemistry crackling between the pair of them. But then she turns away, laughing at whatever bad joke Joe is telling her or rubbing her pregnant belly fondly. It's a reminder. A warning. To let him know that she's chosen. She chose, and she didn't choose him. It would never be him.

Then again he may just be paranoid. She's never made out that she knows. Never said anything, never hinted that she's even suspicious of his feelings for her. Why should she be? In her eyes they're mates. Nothing more.  
She tells everyone that she sees him as a younger brother and that hurts even more. So she does love him, but it's the wrong sort of love. Every time he hears her say that he feels sick. Wants to scream and cry at the unfairness of it all. Because it isn't fair. He fucking loves her, but he can't say anything. No-one would support him, she is the fiancée of his brother for god's sake.  
Those are the nights (when all hope has been cruelly crushed) that he goes to the nearest club but not to pretend. No, those are the nights that he goes to forget. To forget the pain from the unintentional rejection. To lessen the sting in another brunette's bed. And if he whispers _her _name as he cums and not the randomer he picked up. Well, no-one needs to know right?

_Like I said, not a happy oneshot, though I hope everyone still enjoyed it. These last couple of chapters have been incredibly short but don't worry the next oneshot is much longer to make up for it! _

_Keep the prompts coming in guys, I love hearing all your ideas and writing them up is fantastic. _

_Next story – Jason and Robbie have a massive argument and Jason loses his temper – prompted by H20xSpelboundfanx _


	8. Not so Similar

_Not so Similar _

_This chapter has been prompted by H20xSpelboundfanx. The prompt was_** Jason and Robbie have a massive blowout. They're then at the dinner table and there is an awkward silence. Sandy tries to say something but Robbie gets mad at Jason and Jason legs it upstairs. The others hear a massive crash upstairs after a while (like glass breaking). Sandy storms upstairs.**

_I was hoping to update this morning but I had to pick up my GCSE's results (Good luck to everyone who's had to do the same). Fortunately I got the grades I needed for sixth form next year, otherwise this probably wouldn't have been updated because I'd have been busy crying. _

_I hope you all enjoy the chapter_

"So when am I getting my job back then?" Robbie asked, grabbing a crisp from Jason's almost empty packet of cheese and onion. The second youngest of the family had been back in Chester for a little over 2 weeks and so far he was acting every bit the perfect son, much to Sandy's delight and to the others suspicions.

"What job?" Jason asked dumbly, racking his brain and coming up blank.

"The one at the deli," Robbie swiftly replied, his tone implying that he thought Jason slow for even having to ask.

"That's not yours though," Just as Robbie looked ready to argue, Jason continued. "It was yours, but when Doug found out about Ste supplying drugs and that you were knowingly delivering them, he fired you both. Sorry bro, job's mine." Jason walked away, only stopping to throw the now empty crispy packet into a nearby bin. Before he could leave, he felt a hand on his shoulder squeezing tightly, and turned to see Robbie looking annoyed.

"It's mine though," his words were something that an angry child may use in a pointless argument, though his twin's serious enunciation meant that Jason didn't even realise that straight away, too distracted by his angry tone.

"Not anymore," Jason repeated, trying not to sound patronising but he suspected he failed if the way Robbie's grip tightened on his arm was anything to go by. "You were in London for over two months and haven't shown any interest in going back to the deli since you got back."

"Look I just need the money yeah, and really that job belongs to me."

"So pick up more shifts at the garage if you're skint, like you've always done."

"Mum'll have a fit, you know she wants us to focus on school, and anyway the pay's crap."

"Well tell her it won't be permanent and drop shifts when exams begin, you know she'll be fine with that. And the deli pay isn't exactly something to be impressed by either, what do you need the money for anyway?"

"None of your business," Robbie snapped, taking back his hand and moving a few steps away.

"I think it is, if it's my job you're wanting," Robbie remained silent, refusing to make eye-contact, though something- or rather_ someone_ caught his attention and he dropped his mask of anger for a split second before turning back to Jason. What he hadn't been counting on was Jason noticing that exchange and he quickly turned around, scanning the village, trying to find answers. He spotted Ste straight away, the young man walking past the water fountain with his two small children.

Refusing to believe it at first, Jason kept looking though apart from those three, the village was empty. "Did Ste put you up to this?" He asked, trying to keep his anger in check till he got all the answers.  
"What? No of course not, don't be daft," Robbie scoffed, though Jason saw through him straight away.

"What the fuck are you playing at?" Jason growled, refusing to break eye-contact until Robbie cracked.

"Ste just needed some money right, needed to get rid of some gear is all. If I got the delivery job back, we could start moving it."

"Are you stupid?" Jason hissed, earning an odd look from a passing jogger. "You've just got back, Mum's just given you another chance, if she finds out she'll go spare,"

"Well then she won't find out, will she?" But the implied threat didn't work, as it rarely did so with Jason. Instead he continued talking over him, desperate to get his point across.

"And what if you get caught? That's the whole deli gone cause Doug would get taken in and the police know he used to deal, so he'd be beyond screwed. And then there's me, Sasha and Lee, you know the people who actually work there without anything dodgy on the side."

"Stop stressing J," Robbie said, rolling his eyes, looking bored. "It's no big deal."

"No big deal? Are you bloody kidding me," He pushed past Robbie, marching over to the fountain, ignoring his brother's protests.

"You keep my family our of your dodgy crap yeah?" he said to Ste, towering over over him and the two small children, who were all seated.

"Don't know what ya mean," he replied, eyebrows raised in shock and shaking his head."Come on Leah, Lucas, lets go home," He stood up, shoving past Jason and pointedly glaring at Robbie, effectively ratting out both of them. Once Ste was out of sight, Robbie made his way over to his twin, shoving him hard. "You happy now?" he asked Jason, motioning over to the retreating form of Ste. "He said he didn't know what you were on about."

Jason let out a short bark of laughter, somewhat startling Robbie. "How stupid do you think I am? Obviously more stupid than you," Robbie looked ready to argue once more, though Jason didn't give him chance to speak up. "How could you? After everything you've put mum through, everything you've put me through and you still continue being a dick. Mum kicked you out because of your blatant disregard for the law. If she finds out about this then she'll never let you back in the house."

Finally snapping (and Jason was surprised that it had taken his brother that long), Robbie pushed Jason back once more, snarling "Well, she ain't gonna find out is she?"

"I ain't a grass if that's what you're saying,"

"Good, cause if you do, you'll regret it," Robbie went to storm off, though paused when he heard Jason yelling.

"You may think you're all that Robbie, but you're bloody well not." When Robbie turned around to tell Jason exactly what he thought of that, his brother had already gone.

}}}}}}}}}}}}

"Jason, dinner!" Sandy yelled a few hours later. The youngest Roscoe sighed, before logging off his computer and slowly walked down the stairs to the kitchen. He sat as far away as he possibly could from Robbie, his blood still boiling everytime he thought of their earlier argument. As he piled his plate high, he ignored the curious looks from the rest of the family due to him sitting on the opposite side of the table from his usual seat.

Fortunately their attention quickly waned, as they chose to began eating and making light conversation, though neither Robbie or Jason uttered a single word, alerting the others that something had definitely happened between the pair.

"Alright, what's up with you two?" Sandy eventually asked after neither congratulated Lindsey on her possible upcoming promotion. "You've both been in a foul mood since you got back." The room was silent as everyone waited for an answer, whilst the twins only glared at one another from either end of the table.

"One of you better start talking or I swear to God," Sandy said, positioning herself so she was facing them both equally.

"It's nothing," Jason finally spat, still glaring at Robbie, who relaxed fractionally at his twin's silence, though Sandy quickly noticed.

"What is it Robert and don't think I won't know if you're lying."

"Be careful Rob, better not say anything you'll regret" Jason goaded, mimicking his older twin's previous threat. The anger that Robbie had felt earlier that day but had been unable to act on came back in full force and both Freddie and Ziggy had to hold him back, lest Robbie launch over the table to deck Jason, something that looked incredibly likely with each passing second.

As soon as Robbie had stood, Jason had copied the action and the pair were practically screaming at one another, their words too loud and fast for the others to even begin understanding and they could only watch, at a loss as to what to do, though they hoped they'd be enough to stop them from starting an all out fist fight.

"Both of you, shut up!" Sandy yelled, startling them and making them quieten, though both were still incredibly tense and glaring daggers at one another. "Now, you're going to tell me what the hell is going on and you're going to do it now." Again the room was filled with silence. "Now," Sandy repeated, her tone giving no room for argument.

"Nothings going on mum," Robbie said, his voice surprisingly calm for someone who had just partaken in a shouting match not even five minutes ago. "Jason's just being his dramatic little bitchy self"

Jason snarled again, pushing past Joe who was trying to keep him in the living room, storming up the stairs. The bang of his bedroom door echoed through the house.

"What was that for?" Freddie asked, slapping Robbie on the back of the head.

"Someone better start taking," sandy repeated, her voice even sterner. "And seeing as only you and Jason are the only two people who seem to know what's going on and he's currently unavailable, you're going to have to explain what is going on between you two."

"And you're probably the one who started it all," Ziggy muttered, earning a dig in the ribs from Robbie.

Everyone's eyes were on him and Robbie began trying to think of a believable story as quickly as he could, each idea being shot down as quickly as he thought of them.

"And I don't want any half-cocked story either," Sandy said as if she could read his mind. "The truth if you please." Realising the game was up, Robbie took a breath, trying to think up a way to tell the truth without getting sent back down to his aunt's. He had just got back, what was he even thinking getting himself involved in something he knew was dangerous, especially if his family were finally were willing to trust him again.

Money. That was it. It always was, the promise of some extra cash and the thrill of doing something illegal was enough to convince him to fall back into his old ways. He thought it would be easy to get the deli job back, he could normally get Jason to do as he wished whenever he wanted, the fact that his brother was unconvinced by his original plea and then went onto to guess his true intention was slightly unsettling.

He knew he would have to play it right, maybe just maybe he would be able to spin it right and Sandy would let him stay, the only danger in that plan was Jason. If he opened his mouth and told the others something else, he'd be done. Bye bye Chester, hello London.

"I-" he began, though he was interrupted by a loud crash from upstairs.

"What the hell?" Lindsey muttered, exchanging a worried look with Joe.

"And that would be Jason," Freddie muttered, still staring at the ceiling. "You've never seen him snap before have you Linds? Enjoy the show,"

"Don't talk about your brother like that Freddie," Sandy snapped, shooting him a disapproving look.

"It's kind of true though mum," Ziggy said, holding back a smile, before turning to his future sister in law. "We used to call him the Incredible Hulk."

Something that most people weren't aware of (unless they were incredibly close to the family and even then they had to see it to believe it) was the fact that Jason was probably the most volatile of the five brothers.

Sure Joe, Freddie and Robbie's tempers were something usually feared but they were frequently sparked and despite belief all three could usually be placated easily enough (depending on the severity of the situation of course).

Ziggy and Jason were seen as the calmer of the five, though for 2 very different reasons. Ziggy was too laidback, too flirty and was too busy taking pleasure in the simple things in life to be riled up and even when he was annoyed he normally had the sense to step away from the situation and assess what was going on.

Jason was viewed as quite meek and defenceless though. He was usually shy when first meeting people and even when he knew someone fairly well he was still quiet, only speaking up when need be. Those factors led to people believing that he simply didn't have the backbone to speak up when he was angry, preferring to keep it all bottled up or that he wasn't easily riled up. Whilst the latter was partly true, it wasn't everything.

At the worst of times Jason had a frankly vile temper and when it was set off he would throw all 'politeness' and 'meekness' out of the window, and many of Sandy's belongings had been on the receiving end of his anger, damaged beyond all repair, though he never had turned his frustration on another person.

It took a lot to set him off however and at most, he would only snap once or twice a year, though it was becoming less and less frequent, the older he got and therefore the wiser.

The fact that he had reached this stage and had broken at least one of Sandy's belongings (everyone was suspecting the vase in the hallway, Jason had mentioned his hatred for the thing, often very vocally, and he regularly broke the things he didn't like, taking the chance to 'redecorate' when he didn't have full sense that facing Sandy's wrath would be wise), indicated that whatever Robbie and Jason had been fighting about was incredibly serious.

"Joe, Freds, try and calm him down and for the love of god make sure he doesn't break that ceramic bowl in the bathroom. I think we need to talk now Robbie don't you?"

Although the two eldest Roscoes looked peeved that they wouldn't hear Robbie's story, they both nodded turning to go the second storey.

"Wait," Robbie said, shooting his mum a somewhat apologetic look. "Let me talk to him first, he normally listens to me and I think we all know this is my fault." Although Sandy didn't look happy (scratch that she looked downright furious) she nodded and let him go upstairs.

The hallway was empty when Robbie made it upstairs, though like suspected Sandy's vase was lying in broken pieces on the floor.

"Jase, you in there?" He called, knocking on their bedroom door. When he got no reply, he pushed the door open, seeing Jason moving things quite erratically (normally a sign that he was calming down though one could never be too sure), he stepped in the room and the click of the door closing behind him finally alerted Jason to his presence.

"What do you want?" He growled, turning his back once more.

"To talk. Look I know you probably hate me," at this point Jason snorted. "But I don't know what you want me to do,"

"How bout you stop lying first of all," Jason started, fists clenched. "You're all about these fresh starts, everytime you went to a new sixth form, when we moved up here, when mum let you come back. You always said the same damn thing, ' things will be different this time', yeah fucking right. You will never change, if it isn't delivering drugs it's starting fights, if it isn't that it's robbing a shop and I'm sick of it.

"The fact that you thought I would be stupid enough to not see what you were planning is so fucking insulting."

"Are you done?" Robbie asked, once Jason had finished talking and the room was silent for a few moments. When he was only given a glare in return Robbie started talking. "I talk shit, we both know that and I ain't gonna pretend otherwise. But I do mean what I say, I do want to do better, I hate disappointing mum especially after dad. But I don't know... It's difficult y'know?"

"No I don't." Jason replied tersely.

"It's just, I try me hardest, but then after a while I just..." Robbie groaned, trying to think of the proper words. "Look, I don't know why I'm such a prat, but I am. People expect it from me now and everytime I try to turn it round something happens, like I meet someone or I need money or anything really. But then I just kind of go 'fuck it-"

"I'll just go delivering E again," Jason finished, though his tone wasn't as cold and Robbie knew he was calming down, though whether he was coming round to what Robbie was saying was another matter entirely.

"Yeah, I didn't really think that through,"

"Just a tad. What I don't get is why you're gonna start selling again, you know how stupidly dangerous it is,"

"Yeah Jase I know," Robbie sighed. They were going round in circles and it was quickly becoming tiring. "But Ste's a mate and I owe him, look you wouldn't understand."

"No I don't." His voice was stony and Robbie inwardly cursed what he had previously blurted out. "I don't understand why you would risk everything. Your freedom. Your family's trust. But I do get loyalty. And I think you really need to assess yours, between your own flesh and blood and worthless scum who make you do their dirty work but would do nothing to help if you got caught." Robbie was silent for a few moments, trying to think of what to say but as time continued to pass Jason went to leave the room, rolling his eyes, a look of equal parts disgust and annoyance painted all over his face.

"No wait," Robbie placed his arm on Jason's making him stop, and he must have seen something, because he shut the bedroom door that he had just opened less than a minute before and turned back.

"Look I do want to do better, I really do but like I've said I do find it hard, I just get bored I guess. It's exciting, it's the most stupid thing ever and just sounds like an excuse but whenever I do try trouble always finds me and I just can't say no."

"But you what could-"

"Oh my god, just leave it yeah." Robbie said, his patience finally snapping. He was sick and tired of having to explain himself and it was becoming a more and more frequent occurrence. "You don't get it, you never will-"

"So tell me," Jason snapped again, his temper flaring once more.

"It's not something I can just explain, you either get it or you don't and you sure as hell won't. You're not like me, you're the golden boy and everything you do is respected and I'm the fuck up. We all know you're the one going places with your life, I'll be lucky if I'm still going by 30."

"Don't say that," Jason said quietly, a look of shock obvious. "Tell me that you don't believe that," Robbie just shrugged, he hadn't once told anyone about his insecurities; that he viewed himself as the weak link in the family, especially when compared with Jason and for the main one to come out now, to his twin of all people, was the last thing he ever wanted to happen.

"Oh my god Robbie," Jason sighed, practically deflating. "You're not a screw up. No-one sees you as that,"

"That's why you've spent the better part of the day telling me just that,"

"I wasn't... I mean," Jason stumbled, like his twin trying to find the right words for the very fragile situation. "I was, still am actually, really angry at you for what you're planning with Ste when you promised you were finished with it all. But I don't see you as a failure or whatever, no-one does.

"You've made mistakes but everyone in this family has at one point or another and we bound to make a load more along the way. And I know I've said about going into medicine before but that's to keep mum sweet, nothing more. At least you have the courage to do what you want and not get pressured into it unlike me."

"Yeah with petty crimes."

"Yeah, you're really going to need to fix that, but you get what I mean. So what if you don't get three a*'s for your exams, I know for a fact you'll do as well as you can and then do amazing things with the rest of your life, you just need to take control and learn to say no to idiots."

Robbie chuckled, he couldn't help it. Today had already been incredibly stressful and draining due to the argument with Jason, but then to lay it all on the line and admit what he was really bothered about had been then icing on the cake.

"You will stop yeah? Selling gear I mean," Jason finally asked. "I'm not going to ask you to stay completely out of trouble because like you said, trouble always has a way of finding you, but if you would just use your head once in a while, it'd mean a lot."

"I'll try," Robbie admitted, hoping this resolution would be the one to work. "I ain't promising anything bruv, but I'll give it a go."

"You gotta promise to talk to me more too, if you fell like shit you have to say something. We are twins after all, we're meant to share everything, just like the movies," at this Jason put on an American accent (a long running joke of theirs was to mock the way twins were portrayed on film, where they were seen as practically physic).

Robbie chuckled, pulling Jason into a hug (a very manly one though) instructing him that he had to do the same. As they pulled away the door was pushed open, revealing a very unimpressed sandy.

"Well you two seem to have made up, but I still want answers and as Robbie isn't talking you better Jason."

Robbie shot a worried glance over at his brother, it wasn't that he thought he would grass but there was always that fear that he might, that what had just been said was nothing and that Jason still didn't trust him.

"It was nothing, Robbie just asked Holly out when he knows I still like her,"

The lie was transparent as anything, but even when sandy blatantly refused to believe it, Jason kept with it. Eventually she realised that neither would talk and left the room, demanding that Jason clear away the mess he had made in the hallway.

When the door shut behind her, the twins shared a small glance. Yeah, they were good.

_I hope everyone enjoyed that, especially the prompter. I have to admit it was quite a difficult prompt for me to write simply because I struggled to keep everyone in character especially Jason. Although we've never really seen anything about him having a bad temper, I remember him having the argument with Robbie before he was sent away and used that as my main inspiration for their argument. _

_Although he didn't react violently there was something there and I played on that massively. It was also why I inserted some other things about the character halfway through the story to explain Jason's actions, like breaking the vase. (I hope that was okay H20xSpelboundfanx, it seemed like the most plausible reason for something breaking upstairs). _

_Also, I feel awful about the amount of Ste bashing I did in this. I absolutely adore Ste but he already has a past with Robbie and it was simply easier for him to be the catalyst of the argument. All the negative things that were implied about him, were thought up by Jason who I'm pretty sure in the show has a similar opinion. _

_As always, if you have any ideas just review or leave me a message. I always respond to them (unless they're anonymous) and love getting feedback. _

_Next Story – You Leave Me Spelbound – Jason joins a very famous gymnastics team, just in time for their audition on everyone's favourite show – prompted by H20xSpelboundfanx _


	9. You Leave me Spelbound

_You leave me Spelbound_ _This chapter has been prompted by H20xSpelboundfanx. The prompt was_******Jason is a member of ********BGT gymnastics group Spelbound where they audition for the show, not telling their families.**

_I hope you and everyone else enjoys this chapter._

Like most parents who want their children to do well later on in life (not only with their CV's but with their social skills also) Sandy Roscoe had signed up all five of her children to various activities when they were still fairly young.

Between the ages of five and seven they had all joined the local football team, went swimming once a week and were members of the gymnastics class down the local leisure centre. As they all grew up, they all jumped round, quitting various clubs in favour of others, swimming was taken out of the equation for Ziggy so he could start playing tennis.

By the time they had moved to Hollyoaks village, the three eldest had long since stopped all extra-curriculars (as many people do once they've finished school) and Robbie only continued with football whilst Jason had stayed put with gymnastics throughout the years. Both twins were good at their respective sports, winning many trophies over the years to celebrate that fact.

Although neither of them could picture themselves continuing with football or gymnastics into their adult life, as soon as they had settled into the village the two youngest Roscoes went about, trying to find clubs for their respective sports. Luckily it didn't take long for Jason or Robbie and they made arrangements to meet with their future coaches as soon as they could.

Football try-outs were held first, and on the Tuesday afternoon Robbie made his way down to the local football club, a bundle of excitement and nervous energy. It was a fairly large field and when he arrived there was around a dozen or so lads warming up already, whilst a tanned man in his early 40's ordered them around. He spotted Robbie fairly quickly and ran over, hand outstretched. "Robbie right? I'm Bernie Clarkson, football coach. You okay to show us what you got?"

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"How'd it go?" Jason asked when Robbie got back to the house a few hours later, his face still flushed from the exertion.

"Brill, got in didn't I," Robbie crowed, pumping his arm in the air in celebration. "Well done mate," Jason smiled, genuinely pleased for his brother. "When's yours again?" Robbie asked, pulling off his football boots and chucking them to the side.

"Two days time," Jason replied, looking slightly nervous at the thought of his upcoming tryouts.

"Don't look so scared bruv, you were like the best one back home, it'll be the same here." Jason nodded, still looking unconvinced. "You'll be fine Jase, we all know it." Jason only nodded, going through all the different movements and techniques in his head, trying to prepare himself as well as he possibly could.

Eventually Thursday arrived, though it felt like no time whatsoever for Jason, who if anything, was more nervous than before. He arrived at the leisure centre in plenty of time for his try-out and began stretching as the clock continued ticking. Just as the clock struck 11, three people, two men and a woman walked through the main doors into the gym, all smiling and laughing with one another.

"Jason I presume?" the man in the middle asked, shaking hands with the young Roscoe. "I'm Neil Griffiths, we talked on the phone."

Jason smiled and nodded. "Hello,"

"I'm the head coach for all the gymnastic teams here, this is Andy and he's also a coach and Nicola here is our choregrapher for competitions." Jason greeted the other two, shaking hands with all three. After all pleasantries were exchanged, he was led to a small row of benches where Neil grabbed a clipboard and pen.

"Don't look so nervous, we just need to ask you a few simple questions to make sure we put you in the right class." Neil said reassuringly.

"Do you have many levels here then?"

"We have three main ones, beginner, intermediate and advanced, though a few of those are split into a few sub-sections, depending on what grades people are on and the different type of gymnastics they do. Those three groups mainly stick together and make it easier for us to enter people in competitions." Jason nodded, already wondering what level he would be placed in.

"So Jason," Nicola asked, leaning back comfortably on the floor where she was sat cross legged. "What type of gymnastics do you mainly practice?"

"In my old club I mainly did acrobatic gymnastics though I've also done a bit of artistic." All three coaches nodded and Neil began writing on the clipboard.

"And how long have you been doing gymnastics?" "I've been doing acrobatic gymnastics for nine years and artistic for the last three, though not as devotedly."

"Okay, and what position are you normally in for acrobatics?"

"In my last group I was mainly the flyer but I have been the top a few times too." And the questioning continued. It wasn't a gruelling process and Jason understood why it was needed, if he was to get the most out of gymnastics he needed to be placed in the appropriate group, so in the next fifteen minutes of the mini-interview the Neil, Andy and Nicola learnt that he had passed many grades with merits and even a few distinctions and that he participated in many competitions over the years.

Most of them were quite small and local, his old class having set them up specifically though he had entered the Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships in both 2010 and 2012 with his team where they came in fifth and third respectively.

"I think that's all we need to know," Neil smiled, placing his clipboard down. "We just need to see you perform some moves now, so how about we call out what we want you to do and see how well you can do it?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Jason nodded, making his way to the mat in the centre of the gym, re-stretching slightly. When he was ready, the three coaches began calling out moves, starting out slowly and getting steadily harder, though Jason was happy to do anything they told him to and managed it all with ease.

"Front aerial."

"Layout."

"Full twist."

"Tuck."

"Double pike." When they had finished directing him, Jason made his way back to the mat, panting heavily but smiling. He knew he had done well, he could feel it, could see it on the others faces as they talked quietly to one another.

Luckily they didn't take long (Jason wasn't sure his nerves could take it, it was one thing thinking you'd done well, it was another watching people talk about what you had just done) and the three walked up smiling. "You're very good Jason, with a lot of experience, we've needed someone like you to join for a long time now. We're going to put you in the advanced class, we all think you'll flourish in there but if we don't think you're coping or if you don't feel comfortable there we'll move you down to the intermediate group."

"Thank you," Jason said, smiling widely. He couldn't believe his luck, to be placed in the highest group with such little trouble was amazing and he felt on top of the world.

"We meet every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday at four to half five though if we're preparing for a competition more classes will be posted and current ones are lengthened." Jason nodded, thanked all three coaches once more and made his way out of the gym, still smiling, ready for his first class the very next day.

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Even though he was still excited the next day, when he entered the gym and got ready for his first class, Jason could help the nerves that were increasing the minute. He old group had been amazing and he had fit in well there, and now he was scared that he wouldn't here. What if they were all much better than him and he looked really bad? What if no-one actually liked him and he spent every lesson on his own with no-one to talk to?

Banishing the negative thoughts from his head, Jason took a deep breath and entered the large gym where thirteen others were all warming up. They all stopped what they were doing when he entered, staring curiously. Before Jason could decide that this was a terrible idea, and run out of the building and never come back Neil came jogging from the side, hand held out."Glad you could make it Jason,"

"Good to be here."

"All right class," Neil called, catching the group's attention once more. "This is Jason Roscoe, he's recently moved up here and is joining the class. Now myself, Andy and Nicola have put him through his paces and know he's more than good enough for this class so be _nice. _I'm talking to you Leighanne." A tall blonde girl rolled her eyes dramatically at Neil's comment as the others all laughed. "Now, I want you to introduce yourselves and make Jason feel comfortable. Adam, tell Jason what he needs to know,"

A ginger lad, who didn't look much older than Jason nodded and smiled warmly at the newest member. "So I'm Adam," he began, walking over as Neil moved away. "I'm team coach, so if you have any problems then just come to me. These guys are Adam B, Alex, John, Douglas, Ed, Nick, Katie, Leighanne, Lauren, Hollianne, Abby and Amy." As each name was called out, a different member lifted a hand to signify who they were, not that it really helped.

"It's hard at first hey?" Leighanne said laughing. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it," The next ten minutes were spent talking as Jason learnt more about the class he had now joined. He learnt that Nick was the oldest member at twenty four (though Alex was only a few months younger) and Amy was the youngest at the tender age of twelve. He was also told that although they all trained and learnt together, they didn't participate together.

This made sense, most competitions would only allow to compete in a maximum of four so they all split between pairs and groups of threes and fours, though they joined together for any demonstrations or shows. "We call ourselves Spelbound," Adam had told him, but before he could learn more, the three coaches descended from the side steps, ready to put the class through their paces.

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The next few months were some of the best in Jason's life. He loved his gymnastics class and formed a good bond with all of his classmates, despite the very different age range. The majority of them were at Hollyoaks High and both Katie and Lauren were in his year, meaning that when he started he already had a few good friends to rely on and look out for. He had just gotten home from training one day when he heard unfamiliar laughing in the kitchen.

Desperate for a glass of water and wondering who was in his house, Jason made his to the kitchen, sparing a small smile when he saw Robbie and a few guys from their year seated around the kitchen table, poring over a laptop. "What you doing?" he asked as he poured himself a generous glass of orange juice.

"Britain's got Talent's coming to Chester at the end of January."

"No way," Jason gaped, rushing to the screen to see the information for himself. It was true, the group were on the official homepage and a date along with details on how to enter were on screen. "Please don't tell me you aren't going to audition?" He asked, only somewhat joking.

"Don't be daft Jase, but you know that Casey from year 11?"

"She's a cow," Jason replied bluntly, ignoring the laughs from the other two boys in the room who didn't see him as outspoken in the slightest and were always shocked by his sharp tongue.

"And she's tone deaf," one of them commented – Joey, Jason reminded himself. "She posted a video on facebook asking if she should sing it for her audition," At this point Robbie pulled up the video and pressed play. It was true, the poor girl sounded like she was being murdered, the worst thing was the dozens of comments telling her she was good and should go for it.

"Now that's just cruel," Jason said, somewhat amazed by the cruelty of people. All three lads shrugged.

"We ain't put anything there, most of those things are from her family so they're to blame when her dreams are ruined." Jason sighed, not even bothering to read through all the comments, it wasn't fair on Casey but even if she was told that she wasn't any good she wouldn't listen. She was one of the meanest girls Jason had ever met and would just cause a fight if anyone stood up against her. Maybe it was just karma. As he went to leave, an idea struck and he knew what had to be done.

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The next day he found Lauren and Katie well before tutor and pulled both of them aside. "Emergency meeting at lunch. Try to get everyone at the leisure centre for one, but don't tell Neil, Andy or Nicola."

"Why? What have you done Jase?" Lauren asked, flicking her long hair over her shoulder carelessly.

"Nothing, yet. I just don't want to get coach involved if it's not worth it, but you know how we need to raise money for our competitions next year? Well I think I may have a way." Before the pair of girls could question him further, Jason had already run off, trying to locate the rest of the team.

"Do you have any idea what he's up to?" Katie asked, an inflection of fear in her voice.

"No idea K," Lauren replied, already dialling Adam's phone number. "Hey Adam, it's me, Lauren."

}}}}}}}}

By the time Jason was at the leisure centre, the rest of the class had made themselves comfortable, though each one was as confused as the other. "What's this about J?" Adam asked, speaking as he often did on behalf of the team.

"I'm sure most of you have heard about Britain's got Talent coming to Chester." At this everyone nodded, everyone in the whole city was excited about it, it was the first time the talent show was coming to the city and everyone wanted a go. "Well I thinking... we should go for it," Silence met his suggestion, though some of the younger contestants were already buzzing with excitement.

"Is that allowed?" Ed asked, looking over to Adam for confirmation. "I mean, we're all kind of professionals, well we've all represented Britain before."

"It's fine," Jason nodded, his smile still not fading. "I was going over the guidelines with a fine comb last night and we're good." At this the others all allowed themselves to become excited, Britain's got Talent was worldwide and that sort of publicity would be amazing, the thought of getting to the live shows, to showcase their talents would be amazing.

As they looked over the application form that Jason had printed off the night before, the voice of their coach echoing throughout the hall stopped them in their tracks. "Now I know you all love my class, but to turn up now, in the middle of the school day and with there still being a whole day till your next lesson, well you'll have to excuse me for being slightly wary." As one the small group of fourteen turned to face their Neil, who if anything, was looking slightly amused.

Jason was pushed to the front, application still in hand and as he threw a glare to the others all they did was shrug, though as always Leighanne had a sarcastic comment to add. "You're idea and you're the newbie. Sorry kid, but you're in the firing line here."

"You're four months older than me," Jason muttered back, though all he got was a toothy smile in return. Sighing he turned back to Neil and explained what they were hoping to do.

"And you all really want to do this?" Everyone nodded and Jason spoke up again.

"I know it's a long shot, but if we did win it would really help us out. £100,000 is a lot of money and we spend so much money on transportation anyway. And if we don't win at least we're getting publicity for this sport.

"Barely anyone knows what acrobatic gymnastics is, and nearly everyone I know gets it mixed up with artistic. We can't enter the Olympics and I'm not saying that this would change anything, but it might make our competitions better known events."

Neil nodded, mulling over his newest member's words, knowing that he was right and that it could be beneficial for the whole sport, never mind their class. "Where's that application form then?" he finally said, laughing at they all began cheering. "We're going to have to work harder than ever, the first auditions are in two months time and we have four to get through before the live ones."

The team all nodded and Neil knew they could do it. They were all good kids and he had never met a group that worked so hard. They made plans to meet up that evening and then disbanded going their own separate ways, either back to school or to their respective work places. That evening the gym was alive with energy. No-one could stay still, the prospect of what they were doing finally sinking in. The practice wasn't particularly gruelling though it was more to think of what to do with everyone than anything else.

Although the whole team often got together to perform in local shows, this was by far the biggest thing they would ever do and they needed to make sure it was the best thing they ever did. They worked out a small basis for everything, they would all come together in the beginning of the performance, then split into their competition teams (Jason and Douglas, John, Alex and the two Adams, Amy and Abby, Dom, Alice and Ed and Hollianne, Leighanne and Lauren) before coming together as one big team for the very end.

"What are we going to tell our families?" Katie asked as they were packing up for the night. "I mean, I kind of want to surprise them on the day and not let them know before-hand."

"We should so do that," Leighanne declared. "Their faces when they see us will be so funny."

"And how will we get them there?" Douglas asked, liking the idea but still rational enough to see the massive problems there.

"Say you won a raffle or something and got four tickets for yourself and family. That's quite a good number and the number is big enough to accommodate siblings."

"Yeah, except when you have my family," Jason sighed. "Six is quite a big number too, but I can wing it, no problem." He smiled at his team-mates, all of them laughing as they left the building, excited for what the future held.

}}}}}}}}}}}

The team soared through the initial audition progress with ease and at the beginning of January they were working through their final routine in preparation of their live audition. January 23rd was a date none of them would be forgetting in a hurry.

The biggest problem they were having was trying to get their family to the shows without raising suspicions. Everyone bar Jason, Hollianne and Alex had managed to hand the needed number of tickets over and the pressure was now on for the remaining three. Jason had been thinking long and hard on what he could he do and was still struggling with a good idea.

The hardest part would be convincing his family why he wouldn't be going though as he was working his way through his mum's latest 'meal' inspiration struck. Waiting till everyone had finished eating he finally spoke up.

"Uh the gym was holding this charity raffle last week," he began, only to be interrupted by his mum.

"And you telling me this now, you know I love a good raffle,"

Rolling his eyes, Jason continued, long since used to his mother's dramatics and constant interruptions. "Anyway I entered and won first prize." The room was filled with dramatic oooh's from Freddie and Ziggy, though Jason could tell they were all excited. "I won tickets for myself and my whole family to the Britain's got Talent auditions later this month."

There was silence for a few moments before they began celebrating. Everyone had been planning on going to watch it anyway, the fact that they didn't have to pay for their day of amusement made it all the better. Jason smiled at his family's excitement, hoping that his plan would work.

"I did it," he yelled the next day during rehearsals, causing the others to cheer in celebration.

"Only Alex left to go now," Adam laughed, limbering up for that day's lesson. With the audition mere weeks away, the team had begun practising every other day for two hours, with the intention to do it everyday when there was only a week to go. It created confusion from the other gym staff, as everyone was being kept in the complete dark about their upcoming audition.

The team had decided early on they wanted to keep it a secret from absolutely everyone and so far no-one had twigged what they were going to do, a success in everyone's eyes. The practice was a long and gruelling one (as they all were nowadays) and Jason practically limped out of the gym at the end of it.

Although he had been a gymnast for many years now, he had never been worked so hard for so long, even his family were noticing that he was spending more time practising than he had done previously, though he had told them he had a few minor competitions coming up and they had left it alone, long since used to his absolute devotion to the sport. It would be worth it though, the falls, the sweat, the tears, they'd all be worth it when they walked out of Northgate Arena with all three yes' from the judges, ready to show the whole of Britain what they could do.

}}}}}}}}}}}

The final week before their live audition was probably their hardest. They were so close to something that could possibly change their lives forever and they were working so hard that they whole team was stressed out. The youngest members were taking it the hardest, at only twelve and thirteen respectively both Amy and Hollianne were finding it hard keep so much secrets from their parents though when they both given the chance to tell their families neither actually went and did it.

"We've come too far now," Hollianne had said, wiping the tears from her face, before completing a set of complicated twists and flips to prove she was fine. The teens were also struggling, with mock exams to contend with too it was a difficult time for a large portion of the group, and many petty arguments had happened because of all the underlying stress and tension.

With only three days to go, all three coaches had, had enough and called their group over to the centre of the room. "In three days time you lot are going to be showing thousands of people exactly what you are made of," Neil began, his voice unusually stern. "I said when we first signed up that I thought we could do this, that we would breeze through the auditions, but now, now I'm not so sure. There are petty arguments every where I look and it's ruining the team. If we can't do this properly, then there's no point in doing this at all."

The room was silent as Neil's words sunk in, making the whole team look incredibly ashamed of themselves.

"We're sorry coach," Adam said, stepping up as team coach. "Everyone's just so stressed, but we'll do better." Neil smiled, glad his words had had some sort of affect on them, it only widening as the group got back to practising, with no bickering between any of them, just good solid team-work. Fortunately the rest of practice went much better and the team left the gym laughing and more light-hearted in weeks.

"Hey Jase," John's calling caught the older boy's attention and he waited for his base and lifter to catch up with him. Despite being three years younger, Jason was probably closest to John out of the whole group, which was probably a good thing.

They had been paired together shortly after Jason had arrived and were already set to enter many competitions together over the next year. They needed to trust one another, as the flyer's base, John needed to be there for Jason at all times, and fortunately the pair got on extremely well.

"When are you telling your family that you can't go to the show with them?" he asked. Whilst most people had told their families they only had enough tickets for them and not themselves, Jason knew he wouldn't get away with it with such a large (and frankly suspicious) family, so had decided to pretend that he was going as well, only to pull out at the last minute.

"Doing it tonight," he grimaced, already preparing himself for the fireworks. As he ran to catch his bus he called over his shoulder - "wish me luck!" As he heard the answering call from John, he could only think about how much he would need it. He was still nervous when he got back home, door clicking softly behind him.

"How was practice love?" Sandy called from the kitchen.

"Yeah about that," Jason started, making sure his voice seemed meek and unsure as he made his way to where his mum was stood.

"One of the contestants had to be dropped from a competition and we were next in line."

"That's great," Sandy smiled, though obviously confused by her son's apparent distressed state. "Isn't it?"

"The competition is on the day of Britain's got Talent."

"Oh." Sandy stopped what she was doing and turned fully to Jason. "Well couldn't you drop out? I mean those tickets were won by you." Jason only shook his head, biting his bottom lip slightly and making sure to look as upset as he could get away with.

"It's not fair on the others. I'm sorry mum,"

"Don't be sorry sweetheart, it's not your fault. Do you need me to drive you anyway in the mornnig?"

"Nah I'm good. You'll need to leave quite early if you want to get your seat and I'm sleeping at Ed's anyway." Technically none of that was a lie, though Jason still felt guilty about misleading his mum, unable to stay there for much longer (without cracking anyway) Jason made his departure from the kitchen, with the sole intention of a long hot shower to ease his aching muscles.

}}}}}}}}}}}}

Today was it, the chance to make a real impact on the world. The whole team were a bundle of nervous energy as they loaded onto the coach, everyone chatting loudly with one another in the hopes of hiding their nerves. Fortunately the roads were empty and they arrived at the arena with plenty of time to spare.

"All right team," Neil said, getting all their attention before they made their way to line up. "This is it. You have all worked so hard for this, we've all grown stronger, individually and as a team. We can do this!" The group all cheered loudly before making their way to the back of the constantly growing line.

"We're going to be here for hours," Amy groaned, standing on tiptoes to try and spot the start of the line. Before anyone could try and reassure her otherwise, two very familiar figures appeared on stand, towering over the crowd.

"Oh my God, is that Ant and Dec?" Jason asked, not sure why he was so stunned to see the pair of famous presenters. As one the crowd began cheering, only quietening when Dec raised his hands to get their attention.

"Hello," he called, laughing when everyone shouted back. "Is everyone excited to be here?"

"We're going to be doing a little bit of filming for the show before anyone is allowed to go in," Ant continued. "Now when we say so, we're going to need you all to say 'Chester's got Talent'." When he gave the signal, the whole crowd shouted the chant, some even waving a few banners around with their names on them. This continued for a few minutes until one of the crew motioned that they had enough footage.

"Well done guys. Now we're going to be starting with the groups first today, so if all the group acts – and that includes singers, dancers, magicians and the like – could make their way to the entrance,"

"Come on guys," Neil ushered them over, and they swiftly managed to get themselves their contestant stickers and seats in the middle of the hall. "We should be on in half an hour so if you all go and get changed,"

The group nodded, grabbing their costumes for the performance and running off to the closest toilets. "You nervous?" Jason asked Ed as they played with their hair in the bathroom mirrors. In every competition you had to look as good as possible and Britain's got Talent was no exception.

"Nah," Ed scoffed, though laughed at Jason's disbelieving look. "Scared shitless actually. If something goes wrong we'll be laughing stocks,"

"Well nothing's going to go wrong now is it lad," Adam said, leaving his cubicle, his street clothes in hand. "Now come on, we better get going." The three lads left the loos and met up with their team-mates.

"Who's Neil talking to?" John asked when they got back to the main hall and saw their coach deep in conversation with what seemed to be a crew member.

"You don't think we'll be on tv do you?" Leighanne squealed, running over to their coach. In fact, Leighanne was right. The man did work on the show and wanted to show their audition on the actual show.

"We've never had a group like you before on the show," he mentioned, setting up the camera. "It'll make it interesting." The next five minutes were a blur as he asked them al questions about what they did and their training schedule. In what felt like no time he was thanking them and they were being called up to the stage.

"This is it," Neil said, as the act before them went on stage. "We have one shot at this and we can't afford to mess it up." The next three minutes felt like both the shortest and the longest three minutes in Jason's life, as he waited desperately to be called up on stage. When the previous act walked past them, smiling widely, he took a deep breath and followed the others past the wings and onto the stage.

Despite the bright lights he found his family incredibly easily in the crowd and only smiled at their shocked faces. He made himself pay attention as Amanda commented on Ed's six pack and laughed with the team as he felt his mate puff up next to him.

"Do you have any family backstage?" Amanda asked, and the whole team started looking slightly sheepish.

"We didn't actually tell them we were auditioning." Adam admitted, causing the audience and judges to laugh. "But they're all in the audience somewhere." At this, all fourteen families stood up and began cheering and waving.

"Well I'm sure they'll all be very proud of you," Amanda smiled. "Good luck guys." The team smiled, before getting into position on stage, hearts hammering loudly against their chests. Once the music started however, the nerves faded for everyone.

They all got into the zone, solely concentrating on what would be needed to be done. Flips, throwing, lifts, they did it all. When their two minute spot was over, they made their way to the centre of the stage all stunned into silence by the standing ovation they received and from the judges kind words.

"You've got three yes' guys," Simon smiled. "Now go see your families." The team thanked the judges before making their way backstage, where once they were hidden from the crowd the screaming and the cheers began.

"We did it!" Jason cheered, hugging everyone as tightly as he could. "We actually went and did it." Before they could go back to change into their normal clothes, their path was blocked by fourteen stunned families.

The Roscoes all ran over to Jason, enveloping him in a large hug. "I can't believe you kept that hidden," Sandy laughed, lightly hitting him on the head. "No wonder you wanted us all to go so much."

"Well done squirt." Joe said. "You done us proud." The hugs from all the family continued and Jason couldn't stop smiling as he answered all their questions, the shock of getting through still not hitting home. Eventually the team re-met in the middle of the crowd.

"We'll be training more than ever now," Neil said, laughing as they all groaned at the thought. "And I need to get planning."

"Do you think they've ever had someone flying over the judges table before," Leighanne asked, looking over at Jason.

"No, definitely not. I'm not doing it," Jason protested, fearing the scheming glint in his coach's eye as the others only laughed, before moving past their families. The day had gone better than they had thought it would and they were ready, ready for the next step, whatever that would be.

_I hope everyone enjoyed that, it's definitely the most different oneshot I've written so far, since it's kind of a crossover thing. Hopefully I've gotten everything right, though I made sure to research about various levels and types of gymnastics before writing this up, though there were some things which are probably purely fictional.  
_

_Like the three levels that gym have classes in, I did that because it was an easy way to get the whole team in one big class together as the team all perform in pairs or small groups. _ _Please leave feedback either with a prompt or not, I love hearing from you guys, it genuinely makes my day. _

_Next Story – Sandy and Dodger's relationship meets an untimely end due to interference from a certain headteacher and he isn't happy. _


	10. Devil in Disguise

_Devil in disguise_

"Hey mum, you okay?" Joe's voice rang through the house as Sandy shut the front door behind her, trying to stop the tremors that ran through her hands. She kicked her shoes off, not bothering to put them on side of the hallway where they belonged, too focused on controlling her breathing and trying to stop the tears.

"Yeah love," she replied, the nurse trying to keep her voice as steady as she could. "Look I'm exhausted, I'm just going to go to bed. Night." Before Joe could find her and see that she really wasn't okay, Sandy had already run up the stairs, slamming her bedroom door behind her. Running to the windows, she pulled the blinds closed and then, when she knew that no-one would be able to see her, she finally let herself go, images from earlier that day racing through her head.

Her phone start ringing, shocking her out of her stupor though when she saw who was calling she threw the phone onto the bed, trying to stop the rising panic attack.

It had been going so well with Dodger, she'd been having fun and so had he, that was it, but that had all been ruined. Once her sons had found out, well then they'd agreed to go public. Sure they'd been stared at, he was the same age as Ziggy for God's sake, but it was worth it, they liked each other and enjoyed one another's company.

"_Let them stare," he had muttered to her as both and Frankie and Sienna kept looking over from the bar, their disapproval obvious to see. _

Despite the looks they'd gained from friend and stranger alike they hadn't let it change anything. Until _he _arrived.

"_I'm going to have to go babes," Dodger said, looking like he wanted to stay more than anything else. "My shift starts soon." _

_Sandy nodded, kissing him when he went to leave. "We still on for tonight?" _

"_Definitely." Dodger smiled, sauntering out of the pub, tipping a nod at both Patrick and Sienna, both of them looking irritated. Draining her wine, Sandy went to leave the pub, already excited for that night's date, but her path was blocked by Patrick. _

"_Can we talk?" _

"_Of course," Sandy smiled, already knowing where this conversation would go, but she sat back down. _

"_I don't like your relationship with Mark," he said, surprising Sandy with his bluntness. _

_Suppressing a sigh, she thought through her next words carefully. It would not do to anger the father of her... boyfriend? She wasn't really sure, her and Mark had never really talked about what they were to each other, but they were both fine with their little fling. "With all due respect Patrick, Dodger is a grown adult. He is more than responsible and can make his own decisions, we're not hurting anyone and I'm certainly not stopping him from doing as he pleases." _

"_I don't think you understand Ms. Roscoe," Patrick replied, and although his voice was still calm and steady, Sandy couldn't help but feel wary at the angry glint in his eyes. "Mark lost a girl he loved very much only a few months ago. He's still incredibly vulnerable and I don't believe this _relationship _is the best thing for him at this point. He'll only end up getting hurt." _

"_I think I understand plenty. I know exactly what Dodger went through, and have gone through the same thing myself."_

"_You are not what Mark needs," Patrick interrupted. "What he needs is his family, he needs space to try and sort out what is going through his head, you are not letting him have that space." _

"_And from what I can gather, he isn't even talking to you half the time. If he feels the need to break this off at any point I won't cause a fuss, but maybe something like our relationship is exactly what he needs."_

"_Break it off," Patrick commanded. _

"_I don't take kindly to being told what to do," _

"_Can't you see what you're doing? Mark is only going to be left more hurt than he originally was and it will be all your fault. He's your son's age, your taking him in a misguided attempt to hold onto your youth."_

"_How dare you," Sandy snapped, but Patrick wasn't finished.  
"Can't you see Mark deserves a real chance at finding love and you're ruining that for him. Whilst you're in the picture he'll never let himself find someone who actually deserves him."_

"_And if I don't? Break up with him that is?" Sandy taunted, unable to irritate the headmaster more than he already was. What he did next was completely unexpected. He had moved so he was leaning over the table and had grabbed her arm, squeezing tightly. _

_As she took a pain filled gasp, Patrick leant further to whisper in her ear. "You do love your children don't you? Just as I love Mark. I bet you'd do anything for them, just like I would. I only want to protect Mark, with him being out of my life for so long, well I just have to make up for all those lost years. In any way possible."_

"_What are you talking about?" Sandy whimpered, trying to hide the fear that she was feeling, though the sadistic look that was plastered all over Patrick's face suggested that she was failing. She tried to see if anyone had noticed what was happening right under their noses, tried to catch someone's attention but the pair were in a little alcove, completely hidden from view from all the other patrons. _

"_Jason and Robbie have their exams coming up soon don't they?" Patrick continued, his voice as light and steady as if they were merely talking about the weather. "It would be a real shame if they failed or if they were caught cheating. They'd be completely taken out of all their exams, their studies would be... over." _

"_You wouldn't dare," Sandy snarled, enraged at the threat to her children. _

"_Oh, don't dare me Sandra, I just wouldn't be able to resist. I can make it so that no university in the whole country would accept them, same for a decent job. I mean, they could go and continue on with the family business, though I doubt they'd be happy staying at a garage their whole lives, Jason especially, he's so ambitious isn't he? He wants to be a doctor, am I right? Well that will be hard if he doesn't have any qualifications." _

"_You monster."_

"_Not at all Sandra," Patrick replied, and although the sadistic glint in his eye hadn't vanished, he appeared to be nothing more than amused at the entire situation. "I'm just looking out for my son, you know how it is. You have so many after all. I believe you know what needs to be done now." When Sandy didn't reply, he tightened his grip on her arm, until she whimpered out a confirmation. "Now I want you to say it. Make sure we're on the right page."_

"_You.. I have to break it off with Dodger." _

"_Exactly. And soon, he doesn't deserve to be led on like you are doing." Patrick smiled, relinquishing his hold. Standing, he straightened his tie and nodded to Sandy. "It's been lovely catching up, we should do it some other time." Before Sandy could reply, Patrick had walked away and it took all of her control to not cry right there, in the middle of the crowded pub. Instead, she took a deep breath and walked out of the Dog, shoulders held high, already pulling her phone out and dialling a very familiar number. _

Looking over the dark bruises that had already formed on her arm, Sandy held back another sob. She wouldn't cry, she was stronger than this. She was damn it. Her phone began ringing again, but once again (just like she had done the past seven times) she let it go straight to voice mail.

"Sandy?" Dodger's voice rung out from the phone. "Sandy, I know you're there. Look, just talk to me babes. I don't... I don't get it, we were doing well, who cares what others think. We're happy, or I thought we were. Look, just call me please, I'll be waiting."

The phone beeped, signalling the end of the message and Sandy broke again, trying to keep control of her sobbing and failing miserably. It was only a fling, so why did it hurt so much?

"_I can't do tonight," Sandy said as soon as Dodger picked up the phone._

"_Hello to you too," Dodger replied, laughing slightly. "Well I'm free on Friday if you want to go out then?" _

"_No, I'm sorry Dodger, but I don't think this is working. I don't think we should continue seeing one another." She heard a sharp intake of breath on the other side of the line and it took all of her restraint to not break and start apologising. But she needed to be strong, she needed to protect her family and if it came at the cost of her own happiness... so be it. _

"_What are you talking about Sands?" _

"_We're just not right for one another." _

"_I don't know, I though we-" Dodger began, a playful note still in his voice, though Sandy could hear the slight tremors. Unable to listen to him pretending that he was ok, she interrupted swiftly. _

"_You're just too immature for me," She lied, hating herself for sounding so harsh. "And you're Ziggy's age for God's sake, that just isn't right." _

"_We've talked about this though," Dodger said a moment's pause. "You were fine with it then, what's changed?" _

"_I just think that you deserve a real chance at love, not a has-been like me," Sandy noted she was repeating Patrick's words and can't help but smile at the irony. _

"_What's changed?" Dodger repeated, his voice stern, though no-where near as threatening as his father's had been. _

"_I'm sorry Dodger," Sandy replied, taking a breath as she felt the tears threaten to fall once more. "But please, don't call me again." _

"_What's happened. I swear I'll kill whoever's said or done anything." But Sandy had stopped listening, instead ending the call and making her way back home, hoping frantically that she wouldn't run into anyone. _

That night Sandy Roscoe cried herself to sleep for the first time in years.

**So quite a dark one-shot compared to some of my others, but I hope you all enjoyed it. I personally loved Sandy and Dodger's relationship but I was surprised there were no scene's with his family when it was going on. I can't imagine Patrick would have been pleased. **

**Hopefully Patrick won't have seemed too out of character, he's incredibly manipulative, especially with women and I can imagine him using Sandy's children as a way to manipulate her. **

**Keep the prompts coming in guys, they're all brilliant! **

**Next Story – Behind Closed Doors - Sandy gets a new boyfriend and he's not as perfect as he first seems - prompted by Sun Dried Tomato  
**


	11. Behind Closed Doors

Behind Closed Doors

_This story has been prompted by Sun Dried Tomato and the prompt was_** S****andy has a new love interest who abuses Jason either sexually or violently? Maybe drugging him? Basically just getting so bad that Jason isn't Jason anymore, He is the new boyfriends puppet. Obviously at the end the brothers catch Jason being abused and Jason gets better**

_There are some differences between this prompt and the story for two reasons. _

_The first reason is because I try to make sure my oneshots don't go over 10,000 words and if I included all aspects of the prompt in the story then it would be just too long and may mean that certain parts of the story were unrealistic, so it's mainly mental and physical abuse that I've included. _

_The second reason, and some of you will have already realised why, is because this prompt is incredibly similar to a storyline done in The Roscoes by Charlotte Pendragon. Now abuse is incredibly common, so there will be a few factors in both our stories that may possibly overlap (but I've done a lot to make sure it's as little as possible), but the big thing I haven't included is the drugging. _

_That was a big part of her storyline and it's a rare occurrence in child abuse, so I felt like I was just copying her, which I don't want to do, so I then didn't put it in the story. _

_I hope that the prompter and everyone else enjoys this story, and you understand why I haven't included every aspect of the prompt itself. _

_Warnings : As you'll have gathered, this oneshot focuses around abuse and if anyone thinks they'll be affected by it (because of personal reasons) then please don't read it. I don't want to trigger anyone and make them remember things they are uncomfortable doing. _

_The abuse that is in this story is mainly mental, though it does grow into physical in the second half. Although the rating on the story as a whole hasn't changed, this one chapter, I would personally rate an M. _

_Sorry for the long Authors note guys, happy reading! _

Alan Roscoe had been a loving husband and a doting father. He didn't have a bad bone in his body and was instantly liked by everyone he met. When he had been diagnosed with cancer and told he only had months left to live, everyone on the entire street had been devastated.

The whole family had stuck by him and when he was only days away from death he had made Sandy promise that she would move on, that she would find love again. She'd promised him, through the sobs that had wracked through her whole body, not believing it would ever happen, Alan had been the love of her life and there was no moving away from that fact. But as the weeks merged into months, and the months into years, Sandy's heart slowly began to start healing and she soon started dating once more, though no-one ever took her breath away like Alan had done when they had first met.

By the time she moved up to Hollyoaks village, almost seven years after Alan had died, she'd had a handful of relationships and was ready to find something a little more... serious. Her boys were all supportive of it, knowing that she needed someone and they normally liked the boyfriends she had introduced in the past.

When she met David just weeks after the last box had been unpacked there was an instant connection. She'd been at the Dog, having a rare night to herself, catching up with Jack (an old friend from her college days that she hadn't seen in years) and getting to know her neighbours a bit more. She'd felt his eyes on her and every time she turned around he was unashamedly watching, though he never seemed to be embarrassed that he was caught, in fact, his smile would only grow every time she saw him.

"Enjoying the view?" she asked when he made his way to the bar for another drink.

"Immensely," he said, dark brown eyes sparkling with mirth and something else. "Though you can't really blame me. Let me buy you a drink?" They'd spent the rest of the night talking, about nothing and at the same time everything.

She learnt he was an accountant and had divorced from his wife the year before. In fact, he hadn't had a relationship since. He didn't have any kids though he did have a brood of nieces and nephews who he doted on.

She told him that she was a nurse and new to the area. He didn't even seem put off when she told him that she had five kids. "And still in such good shape," he had merely joked, pouring her another glass of wine. When the night was over, they'd exchanged numbers with the promise of going on a date later that week.

They went to a small restaurant only days later, nothing overly fancy but still formal enough for a first date. It was very similar to their first meeting and they spent the whole night talking, simply enjoying each other's company, though no-one could deny the chemistry between the pair. They only went their separate ways when the waitress told them that they were closing and had to leave.

David had called Sandy a taxi and waited until it came, though she told him he didn't need to bother.

"And leave a beautiful lady alone on a dark night like this? I could never forgive myself if something happened." Just before she climbed into the cab, she turned back and they shared their first kiss.

It was breath-taking and only confirmed the chemistry between them. When Sandy pulled away her cheeks were flushed and she had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She hadn't felt anything like that since Alan and as she was driven away, watching David make his way to the train station, she couldn't help the smile that took over her whole face. Maybe there was hope after all.

When they had been together for a month, Sandy told David that she wanted him to meet her boys. "I get if you don't though," she murmured, linking her hands with his, pulling the duvet up higher round her body.

"Of course I do Sands," he whispered back, not breaking the bubble they had entered together. She sighed, relief flooding through her, so many relationships had done well until she had asked whether her partner wanted to meet her sons, that was when it faltered.

Five children, all sons who were incredibly defensive of their mother was more than enough to put people off and had done so. He kissed her head and she lay back, resting it on his firm chest. "It means so much that you want me to meet them."

They arranged that he would come round for dinner that Friday, see how the others reacted to him and if all went well, then he could start spending weekends over, something which had David incredibly excited.

"We can finally spend a whole night together," he had explained, pouring both of them a generous glass of wine before Sandy had to leave.

That Friday Sandy was full of nervous energy. Though David had promised that he would be there, she couldn't help but worry. What if he didn't turn up? What if her boys didn't like him? Or worse, if he didn't like them. She kept going through all the possible scenarios in her head and soon they began picking up on it.

"You okay mum?" Freddie asked, as she relaid the table for the third time. "You're looking kind of... on edge."

"I'm fine love," Sandy promised, sighing in relief when he shrugged and went back to watching the tv, though she didn't notice the odd look that Lindsey was giving her. About ten minutes later, her future daughter in law cracked and made her way to the kitchen, where Sandy was simultaneously doing her make-up and working on dinner.

"You're looking a bit fancy for a family meal Sands," she commented, smiling when Sandy blushed. "And I couldn't help but notice the extra place set at the table. Something you're not telling us?"

Sandy's look said it all and Lindsey couldn't help the excited squeal that she made. "Who is he? Is it serious? How long?"

"His name is David and we've been seeing each other for the past month, it's why I've invited him round tonight. We're getting pretty serious and I want him to meet everyone." Before she could continue the doorbell rung and Sandy laughed at the excited noise Lindsey made.

"Go on, go on, answer it!" Lindsey urged, pushing Sandy to the front door before anyone else could get there. The mother of five couldn't help but laugh when she saw David on the other side of the door, looking slightly green around the gills and clutching at a bottle of red wine like it was a life line.

"Come in love," she said, taking pity on him. "The living room's just here." She pointed him in the direction, rolling her eyes at the approving look she got from Lindsey, though she felt pleased too. Her future daughter in law was difficult to please and if she approved then hopefully the others would too. "Boys, I need to tell you all something."

All five of her sons groaned, not taking their attention off of the television set. "If you've burnt the food then we can order Chinese," Ziggy remarked. "Actually even if you haven't can we still do th-" His voice died as he spun around and spotted David, who was still looking nervous.

Noticing Ziggy's sudden silence, the others all turned around, clocking David instantly and all giving him odd looks.

"Urghh mum," Robbie began. "Not to alarm you, but you seem to have let a stranger in. Did you never get that talk? Even if he was offering sweets, or in your case, fancy wine."

Narrowing her eyes at Robbie as the others all laughed, she took David's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "Haha, very funny Robert. This is David."

"And is David here for any specific reason?" Freddie asked. All five of them had realised why David was there, but they all enjoyed nothing better than winding up Sandy when she was trying to impress her boyfriends, especially when they were meeting for the first time.

"He's here to meet you," Sandy replied, trying to keep calm, though they all knew that the other's were slowly but surely riling her up. "We have been seeing one another for about a month now, and I wanted him to meet the five respectable sons that I always talk about. Unfortunately I only have you lot."

The oven timer beeped and Sandy stepped away, taking the wine bottle from David's other hand. "I'm serving up now, so everyone get seated. And you lot," she finished turning to her children, all of them with faux innocent looks on their faces. "Behave yourselves."

Fortunately and surprisingly her five sons were on their best behaviour for the rest of the night. They took interest in what David had to say and asked him relevant questions about his life, in turn he respected what they had to say and didn't patronise them, like a few of her former partners had been guilty of. In fact the whole evening went incredibly well and before she knew it, David was getting ready to head back to his.

"Come over tomorrow? You can even spend the night?" She asked coyly, between farewell kisses.

"I'd love to," David replied, kissing her once more before leaving, the darkness swallowing him up soon after he was off the path.

}}}}}}}}}}}}

The next three months passed in a similar fashion, with Sandy and David's relationship only strengthening. He got on well with the whole family and ended up spending most weekends at the Roscoe household.

"Move in?" Sandy asked one Saturday morning as she cracked an egg onto an already boiling frying pan, wincing at the desperate tone in her voice. She hadn't meant to ask him like that, though the thought had been running through her head for a while. She really liked David and did want him to move in, though she had been planning to ask later on in the week. Over dinner. In a fancy restaurant. Away from her children who would no doubt appear at any moment, unintentionally ruining the moment.

David was silent for a few moments and Sandy cursed again, great, she'd scared him off. He probably wasn't looking for anything serious, she was his first relationship since his divorce. Before she could apologise and tell him to forget it, he had stood, chair scraping on the floor, echoing through the now silent kitchen.

"Do you mean that?" he asked her, staring intently. She nodded, scared that if she let herself talk, she'd just say something stupid. "Then yes, yes I'll move in,"

Sandy couldn't believe it, she laughed, pulling David into a hug and celebratory kiss. They lost themselves in the motions, the rest of the world melting around them, until they were the only two things that mattered.

"Oh gross," Jason's cry of mock disgust interrupted them and they parted reluctantly, cheeks blushing for both of them. "I did not need to see that this early on."

"Oh hush you," Sandy scolded, though her words held no heat, too ecstatic at what had just happened to be truly annoyed at her youngest. "David's moving in! Isn't that great?"

Jason was silent for a few moments, looking mildly shocked at what he had been told, though he managed to shake it off, plastering a smile on his face and congratulating both his mum and David. As he went to leave the kitchen and Sandy turned to try and save what was left of the eggs, no-one saw the little glare that David shot Jason's way.

}}}}}}}}}}}}

"I'm just saying that it's all happening a bit quickly," Jason pointed out as Robbie grabbed his trainers to the side. "I mean they only got together a few months back."

"Just leave it yeah bro," Robbie sighed. "Mum's a bit older now and well, oldies always rush their relationships, never know how long they've got left do they."

"Crude as ever Rob, well done," Jason replied, restraining himself from hitting Robbie. "Mum's not even that old though."

"She's old enough. You coming down town? I'm meeting up with Callum and Josh."

"Nah, chemistry's killing me at the moment, I really need to catch up,"

"Nerd," Robbie scoffed, grabbing his jacket and leaving quickly. Chuckling at his twin's dramatics, Jason turned back to his chemistry folder, pulling out his coursework and last week's test. He'd been working for less than five minutes when he heard the bedroom door open once more. "What'd you forget this time Rob? I swear you'd-" he was interrupted by a hand slamming on the desk, making him jump.

"I don't appreciate you talking about your mother's relationship like that Jason," David growled, picking up the papers that had been under his hand and rifling through them. Jason gulped, he'd never seen the older man so angry before, and for such a small reason.

"What? I wasn't-"

"Don't lie to me," he snarled, his voice impossibly soft which frightened the young Roscoe even more than yelling would. At least he knew where he was with yelling, if David was shouting then he knew that he was mad at him, but this? "I heard everything you and Robbie were saying,"

"Then talk to him about it," Jason snarked, determined not to be intimidated in his own home. In his own room for God's sake.

"Oh you'd like that, wouldn't you Jase? You must think I'm stupid or something. Don't think I didn't see that look you gave me when your mother told you that I was moving in, I've never seen a boy look so angry before. And then the first thing you do is go to Robbie. Will he protect you? Make the mean nasty man go away?"

David's tone was mocking, though he made it sound childish for his last few sentences, warping him even more. "Everyone thinks you're the innocent one, the one that can do no harm but I know better. You were trying to turn Robbie against me, turn them all against me until Sandy dumps me. You're doing it all to get her attention, I bet you do it with all her boyfriends."

"What? No, I wasn't doing that-" But David wasn't listening anymore, reading through the papers, a twisted smirk on his face.

"A C Jason? Really? And they call you the smart one." The sudden change in conversation left Jason reeling and he didn't know what to say. How to reply. "You're never going to get anywhere in life with a C. And this is just a class test, think about how you'll cope with your actual exams. Not well I bet.

"You really should study more, instead of running around with your brothers trying to act like the big hard man. After all, we all know you're not, you're just a scared little boy trying to impress his brothers and show everyone that you belong."

Still trying to wrap his head around the sudden change that had occurred in his mum's boyfriend, Jason didn't even notice David leaving until the door slammed shut behind his retreating figure.

}}}}}}}}}}}

Not a lot happened for the next few weeks and Jason began to think that he had imagined the whole incident, not realising that David was playing a much larger game and hadn't even started. He started off slowly at first, if he continued acting towards Jason the way he had done, then people would get suspicious. Jason may even go to someone to talk about it, no David knew he had to do this smartly.

He also knew it would take time, the worst thing of all. The other four were all okay, Joe, Freddie and Ziggy were all adults and despite living under the same roof, had very different lives, meaning they were mostly out of his hair. Robbie and Jason though, they were always there. Everywhere he looked, one of them would be in the corner of his eye. It irritated him, he only wanted some time for himself or with Sandy, but it was something that was never there.

Robbie was okay though, so he got into trouble quite a lot, but he was bearable. He had a backbone, he could stick up for himself in a fight and he was a lot more likeable. He was also a lot more trusting than his twin.

Jason however, Jason made David's blood boil. His holier than thou attitude, the fact that he was the goody-two-shoes of the family and could do no wrong, irritated David more than words could say.

He also didn't seem to approve of his relationship with Sandy and whilst David could put up with all the other stuff (hell, the kid would be off to uni in a couple of years), he could not let that slide.

If Jason spread his _concerns_ to the others, they may get annoyed too, and it would only one of them to say that they weren't happy with him for Sandy to end the relationship. No-one could fault her loyalty to her kids and it was one of the things that David had fallen in love with.

He needed to get Jason out of the picture, but he needed to do it well. Luckily, David was nothing if not a perfectionist. Over the next few weeks, he would let comments slide. Nothing major and nothing that would raise suspicions, but enough to slowly chip away at Jason until he had completely withdrawn.

"Where you going Jase?" He'd ask one morning as he watched Jason come down the stairs, school bag in hand.

"School. Like I do every Tuesday. And Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Monday." He would snark and it would take all of David's self-restraint not to deck the little git right there and then.

"Dressed like that?" He would say instead. "I know sixth formers can wear casual clothes but you're looking like you're going for a shift at the garage instead of getting ready for your a-levels. Get changed yeah?" And Jason would sigh, roll his eyes but ultimately turn around, pushing past a surprised Robbie to change himself into something a bit more 'presentable'.

He'd pluck Jason's test scores straight out of his hands, painting a concerned look on his face when he saw the falling scores. "You really should start working harder," he'd comment, waving the paper around so everyone could see the big fat D inked on the front. "You may have been able to breeze through the lower years with no effort but A-level is a lot harder and you need to work for it."

"David's right Jase," Sandy would sigh, looking over the test paper herself. "This really isn't good enough." And Jason would nod, the disappointment written all over his face.

"I'm sorry, I'll do better next time." He never did.

As he left the living room to study, opting for that instead of playing video games with the rest of the family, Robbie would watch him closely, the concern for his twin obvious to see. Which meant David spotted it straight away.

He couldn't have that, he couldn't have Robbie becoming suspicious, it would ruin everything. If Robbie voiced those suspicions, if he linked everything together then David knew he'd be in trouble. So far, the young troublemaker didn't seem to have connected Jason's recent withdrawals and failings down to David's doing, though he would, he may not seem it, but the lad was smart.

He couldn't go after Robbie like he was doing for Jason, it would set off alarm bells for the rest of the family and he didn't want to hurt Robbie. He liked Robbie, he didn't mess in things that didn't concern him.

His... manipulations wouldn't work either, Robbie didn't care for looking smart as Jason did and couldn't be embarrassed into doing anything. His grades had never been fantastic either so he couldn't comment on that. He could however, cause a rift between him and his twin. If he did that, then Jason would become even more isolated and Robbie would – hopefully – stop watching so closely.

Mind made up, David began planning.

}}}}}}}}}}}}

"So hydrogen bonding is important to work out the boiling points of... gah," Jason groaned, his head pounding as he read over the same sentence he had been reading for the past five minutes. He used to be good at chemistry, hell he got an a* in GCSE's for God's sake, but now... now he could barely understand the most basic mechanics of the whole thing.

It was like that in his two other subjects as well, no matter how much he studied, his grades were always decreasing and he didn't know why. Maybe David was right, maybe he wasn't studying enough? No, that was ridiculous, he spent hours going through his notes, daily. Trying to make head or tail out of them, though failing miserably every night.

Sighing, he turned back to his notes, highlighting what seemed to be important and trying his hardest to understand the words in front of him. "You're really not very good at this are you?" A mocking cold voice said from the other side of the room. Jason didn't even need to turn, he knew that voice, it haunted most of his nightmares after all.

"I'm trying," he replied through gritted teeth.

"Well if you didn't spend most of your time cheeking me, maybe you'd actually get somewhere," the older man replied, fiddling with the items of Jason's drawers, looking disinterested and throwing them back carelessly. "You know it's people like you that I despise. You do so well in your first few years of school that you think you know it all. You think you don't have to try as hard as anyone else and it will all be handed to you on a silver platter.

"Well you're wrong. Life is just as difficult and the world just as cruel, you're just blind to that fact for a little bit longer than the rest of us. And then it's at times like this, when you've got your a-levels and your preparing to go to uni, when you realise you're not as smart you thought you were, and maybe you should actually put some work in." David had gotten right close, and was whispering the last few words right into Jason's ear, the young lad whimpering and flinching as he felt the warm breath and spittle in his ear.

David laughed, pulling away and looking at the ornament that adorned the room's window sill. "This is nice," he said snidely, picking up a delicate snow globe.

"Don't touch that," Jason growled, forgetting himself as he stood, desperate to get it back. "That was my dad's. He gave it to me and Robbie."  
"Well you better look after it then," David replied, swiftly dropping it and blankly watching as it fell to the floor, glass smashing everywhere as the liquid was instantly soaked into the carpet. "You're a bit of klutz there Jason, you really should be more careful when holding... precious things."

With that, he walked out of the floor, smirking when he saw Jason on his knees, trying to save the last remaining gift from his late father, sobs wracking through his body.

He was still on his knees when Robbie got back, though he quickly stopped when he saw the state of his brother, broken glass surrounding him and dried tear tracks on his face.

"What's... what's happened?" Before Jason could reply, Robbie saw it. He spotted the snow globe base lying in the centre of the room and he added it all up instantly.

"Please tell me this isn't what I think it is."

Jason finally looked up, a look of pure guilt on his face. "I dropped it, I'm sorry," he said numbly, wincing as Robbie only howled in a mix of pure rage and mourning.

"Why? Why would you do that?" He shouted, face red with rage. "That's the only thing we have left of Dad and you destroyed it." Robbie was still shouting when Sandy and David arrived in the bedroom, twin looks of shock on their face.

"Get Jason out of here, help him clean up," she demanded as she turned to Robbie, desperately trying to calm him down. David only nodded, leading Jason out of the room as he played the doting partner. It was only when they were in the kitchen, as he handed Jason a wet cloth to clean the cuts he had got from the glass that he spoke.  
"Well done Jason, I'm proud of you."

}}}}}}}}}}}

The next week was hell for Jason. Everyone was mad at him, refusing to stay in the same room as him for longer than needed. Ever since the snow globe incident, Robbie hadn't even said a word to him and the others weren't much better. They had all told him they weren't mad, had promised in fact, but actions spoke louder than words, and their actions told Jason a hell of a lot.

He didn't know why he lied, he didn't know why he didn't just say it was David and it kept him up at night. He guess he knew why deep down, it was absurd even thinking about it and he wouldn't believe it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.

And although he hadn't been the one to throw it to the floor, he was just as responsible. He had been goading David, been irritating him and stressing him out with his falling grades. No wonder he snapped, it really wasn't a surprise.

The alienation from his family hurt, it really did, but he did deserve it, it was his fault after all. But it only got worse. Days after the snowglobe incident, Jason received his results for his mocks and... well they weren't pretty.

Actually it was so bad the school call Sandy up and that very night she sat him down, David on her side, the pair looking down at Jason with a mixed look of concern and disappointment on their faces. "Is anything going on sweetie?" Sandy asked, running her hand through her hair.

"No. Why would there?" Jason replied quickly, his voice sharp.

"You've failed two of your exams Jase and you just scraped a pass on the other one. You were getting a's at the beginning of the year."

"Yeah, well things change," he muttered, not trying to keep the disdain and annoyance out of his voice, though when he clocked the glare that David sent him, he instantly folded in on himself. The questioning continued for a while longer, though Jason made sure to stay quiet. It was no-ones fault but his own, there was nothing to say.

He could help the fear that rose through him as Sandy went to go to the shops. He was screaming on the inside, begging... no demanding that she stay with him. To protect him. None of that happened on the outside though, instead he smiled and kissed her on the cheek as she left. He stayed where he was sat, even when he knew she was long gone. He'd learnt by now that it's just best to stay still, running away only annoyed David and he really didn't want to do that. Not with the results he'd just received.

He waited for the whispered taunts, the thinly veiled threats, but they never came. Instead, he was hoisted from his seat and thrown to the wall, his head slamming back. His body burst into pain, it flaring every where and he swore he saw spots every time he blinked.

"Why are you so stupid hey?" David snarled, throwing Jason back into the wall once more. "You better start working harder boy, those results are fucking embarrassing, even Robbie did better than that. You're making us look bad boy, and I will not accept that."

With every question, with every sentence even, came a punch. One to the gut, two to the side. All of them were designed not be seen though.

Jason barely heard the words, instead he tried to control his breathing, made sure he didn't cry out at the pain that made it's way through his whole body. Where was everyone? Surely they weren't the only ones in the house? Unless the others had all gone to the garage? Who knew what David would do then, when there was no-one to stop him.

The beating finally ended, and as David left, whistling a merry tune under his breath, Jason found himself sliding down the wall, tears trickling down his face as he worked his way through the pain. Failing miserably.

}}}}}}}}}}

After that the beatings became a regular occurrence. It was like the damn had been broken with that first act of violence and now every time that David and Jason were alone, there was always a punch due to come. Sometimes it was because he was too stupid, sometimes it was because of the mess he'd made in the kitchen, and sometimes there was no reason at all.

Pretty soon though, Jason's body was unrecognisable. There was no area of uninjured skin, his whole torso was painted a mix of blacks, blue, greens and yellows and his arm was covered in finger marks.

He stopped getting dressed in the changing room at school, preferring the privacy of the toilet cubicle, even if it was immensely cramped. He couldn't risk anyone seeing though, and there was no way anyone would miss it at this point.

He'd spend hours looking at it in the bathroom mirror. Wincing as he desperately tried to find unmarred flesh and failing. He needed his family more than anything, he needed them to notice, but they were still acting cold. And in turn, he had begun doing the same thing. Their relations were withering with each passing day, Jason could see that but he didn't know how to fix it.

So it continued, he let it continue, though each day he prayed for the relief, dreaming that something good would finally happen, though as the weeks drew on, he slowly began giving up.

Jason was interrupted from these thoughts one afternoon as he overheard Joe and David talking quietly in the living room when he returned from college.

"She'll love it mate," Joe said, and Jason could practically hear the smile.

"Yeah, you reckon? It's not too flashy then?" Jason and Robbie shared curious glances and Jason realised that it was the closest they'd been in weeks.

"What do you reckon they're talking about?" Robbie asked, pressing himself against the closed living room door. Jason shrugged, turning to make his way back up to the room. If David found him loitering around the corridors, found him listening into his conversations when he should be studying, well he wouldn't be happy.

"Oi, Jase," Robbie whisper-shouted at him. "Where you going?"

"To study, like _you_ should be doing."

"Oh grow a pair," Robbie grumbled, pushing the door open and dragging Jason into the living room behind him. "What's so flashy then?" Whilst neither Joe or David looked particularly annoyed that they had been overheard, Jason knew better. He saw the flash of anger in David's eyes and he knew his next beating would be a nasty one.

"This," he said instead, pulling a ring out of his pocket. "I'm going to propose to your mother."

"Isn't that great?" Joe commented, smiling, but Jason wasn't listening, too focused on the small ring held between his future step-dad's fingers. It was beautiful and he knew that Sandy would love it, and he knew that she'd say yes. That would be it, after that it would all be over. There would be no getting rid of David and Jason knew he'd be trapped in this hell-hole. Unable to do anything but suffer in silence.

Not saying anything, too busy trying to make sure he didn't start crying, Jason backed out of the room and ran upstairs, slamming his bedroom door behind him. He was only there for a few moments when he heard it open once more, he flinched preparing himself for the punch that was sure to come.

"What was that?" Robbie asked him, shocking Jason when he realised it wasn't David and he was unable to answer, swallowing back the sob that was crawling up his throat and frantically wiping the tears away. "David's a sound guy and mum loves him. Why can't be happy for her?"

Jason still refused to answer, he knew that if he did he wouldn't be able to hold it in and he couldn't do that. He couldn't ruin mum's happiness and he couldn't show everyone how weak he really was.

Annoyed at his twins silence, Robbie grabbed Jason's arm, though dropped it like it was a hot coal when he yelped loudly.

"Jason?" Jason turned away again, hoping desperately that Robbie would just give up, but it was too late. In that brief second that he'd turned around for, Robbie had seen his face. Had seen the absolute terror in his eyes and the tears that were still trickling down his face.

"Jason what's wrong?" He asked, his voice wavering as he saw just how broken his twin was. "What's happened? Oh my God, what do I do? Shall I get someone? Shall I get David?"

He was rambling incessantly and still Jason said nothing, but at the mention of _his _name he froze and looked at Robbie with steely eyes. "No, no don't get anyone. I'm fine."

"Well you're obviously not. You were in pain when I touched you." Robbie said softly, slowly connecting the dots. "Is someone... is someone hurting you?" Unable to continue with the lies, Jason didn't answer, looking down to the floor. "Who is it? Do I know them, I swear I'll kill him."

Taking a breath, Jason made up his mind. He needed to end this all, and the only way to do that would be to tell the truth. "It's, it's David." As soon as he had said his name, Jason instantly felt a lot better, like a weight had been lifted off of him, though more doubts instantly came crashing down when he saw the disbelieving look on Robbie's face.

"Are... are you being serious?" Jason only nodded, trying to stop the tears that were still falling. "For how long?" Realising that his brother truly believed him, Jason couldn't control himself any more. All the fear, the anger, the stress that he had been feeling for the past few months overtook him and he was suddenly on the floor, sobbing brokenly into Robbie's side as his twin held him tight, murmuring comforting words to him and stroking his hair, doing as much as he could to comfort his broken brother, hating himself for not having seen it earlier.

"You're okay, you're okay," he soothed, until finally Jason stilled, panting heavily as the sobs stopped making their way through his body. "We're going to have to tell mum,"

"What? What, no we can't," Jason panicked. His mum was finally happy after years of searching, he couldn't ruin that, she'd hate him.

"We have to," Robbie replied, trying not to panic his brother further. "What David is doing is wrong, he may start hurting mum if we don't stop him." Seeing the sense in what his brother said, Jason nodded, wiping the tears from his face and getting ready to go back downstairs where he knew Sandy would be. When he reached the top of the stairs he froze though, unable to keep moving, the fear he was feeling clear for all to see.

Robbie paused, hating David even more for seeing what effect he'd had on Jason. He moved past, and grasped Jason's hand in his own, guiding him down the stairs into the living room. The twins stopped when they reached the entrance, they had thought that Sandy would be there on her own, unwinding after a busy day at the hospital like she so often did, but instead the rest of the family were all crammed in there, David and Sandy in the centre of the room laughing and smiling.

"Oh boys you missed it," she said, smiling widely. "David's proposed and I said yes."

Unable to stop himself and unable to control the pure rage that entered his system, Robbie let go of Jason's hand and punched David square in the face, ignoring the gasps and cries of outrage from the others.

"You sick bastard, I hope you're happy," he snarled, making his way back to his twin, though Sandy's hand on his shoulder stopped him

"Robert!" She shouted, turning furiously. "What the hell are you playing at?"

"Why don't you ask Jason or even better, your precious fiancé." As one, the Roscoe's turned to Jason who curled in on himself, trying to make himself look even smaller than he was.

"What's he talking about Jase?" Freddie asked, standing as he realised the state his youngest brother was in.

Jason was silent for a few moments, trying to work up the courage to say what he needed, but just as he opened his mouth to tell his family what had been happening he caught David's eye. The older man had picked himself up from the floor and was glaring unashamedly at him, if looks could kill, well Jason would be six feet under. He paused, turning fully back to his mum, unable to say what it was, but one look from Robbie changed that.

His twin was staring right at him, but the look in his eyes was something Jason had never seen from Robbie before. It was full of trust and belief and Jason knew he could do it. He knew he had to do it. Taking a breath, Jason opened his mouth once more.

"David's been hitting me," he said softly, and at first he thought that no-one had heard him, but when he looked around the room he realised that there was noway that they couldn't have.

"What?" Sandy was the first to speak, looking frantically between her son and the man she loved.

"It's true," Robbie said, walking over to his twin and shooting him a supportive look. "He's just told me everything. And he's covered in bruises." Knowing what Robbie was getting at, Jason sighed and lifted up his shirt, revealing his black and blue torso. The whole room was silent, everyone staring in shock at the damage that had been caused, even Robbie, who had known they were there but hadn't seen the extent of the damage.

"David?" Sandy turned to her fiancé, eyes flashing. "Did you do this to my son?"

"You don't really believe them do you?" David asked, playing the shocked and innocent step-father fantastically.

"Answer me properly goddamnit." Sandy snarled.

"Of course I haven't," David denied, though no-one in the room relaxed. "I'd never hurt anyone Sandy, you know that."

"He's lying," Robbie snapped, willing his mother not believe this scumbag over her own flesh and blood. "He's been acting weird round Jase for ages, always staring at him, telling him what to wear for college."

"Why you little shit," David yelled, finally letting the _interrogation_ get to him.

"What did you just say to my boy?" Sandy was screaming, having connected the dots and hating herself for letting a monster into the house with her children. But she needed more, she needed David to admit to the crime. "Tell me now and I swear to god if you lie to me you'll live to regret it. Have you been hurting my son?"

"Look, Sandy babes," but whatever excuse he was cooking up was interrupted as he was punched to the ground. Though this time it wasn't Robbie, instead it was Joe. He was held back by both Freddie and Ziggy (though both of them looked like they wanted nothing more than to join in) whilst Lindsey called the police.

"You're scum," Sandy hissed as David cradled his bleeding nose, before turning to Jason who had backed out of the room and into the hallway. He stopped when he saw Sandy approach.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, before breaking down once more, as Sandy held him tightly, trying to show all her love and sorrow for her child through the simple action of a hug. The police arrived fairly quickly and David was handcuffed and dragged to the closest car.

"You'll have to make a statement," one of the officers informed Jason regretfully. "We'll have someone come down here in the next hour." He nodded numbly, still unable to process the fact that it was all over. That David was truly gone from his life.

Lindsey led him over to the sofa as Sandy passed him a steaming cup of tea, sitting by his side as he just stared at it. The others were all dotted around the room, no-one saying anything as they waited for Jason to say something first.

Eventually Sandy couldn't take it anymore, she needed to know why her son had kept quiet about it all and how bad it had really gotten, when she was still blissfully unaware.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Jason was silent for a moment, obviously trying to gather his thoughts and then process them into words. "At first I thought I was just being dramatic, I mean he was only telling me that I looked scruffy and that I wasn't doing well in school."

His voice broke as he vast his mind back to what had been happening. "When he started hitting me you'd been together for months, you were so happy mum, I hadn't seen you like that since dad and I didn't want to be the one to ruin it."

"What makes me happy is knowing your happy sweetie." Sandy sighed, screaming on the inside at how blind she'd been to her son's troubles. "If something's wrong you tell me straight away, it's what makes this family work."  
Jason nodded, cracking a small smile at the others. "Okay."

It was going to be a long journey to recovery, everyone knew that. The physical damage would heal quickly enough but the psychological stuff that David had done? Well it would take years for Jason to trust someone properly again, but with his family there, supporting him every step of the way, Jason knew he couldn't go wrong.

_Well wasn't that cheery. Hopefully Sun Dried Tomato, you and everyone else reading will have enjoyed this chapter and I hope that I kept it as realistic as possible. _

_Obviously the one-shot took place over a number of months, which I did to show the pure scale of the abuse and how it escalated quite slowly, until David pushed himself over the edge. _

_No David wasn't an out and out monster at the beginning, in fact he was quite likeable, but that's true to real life. Monsters like that aren't easy to identify, until it's too late. _

_The ending wasn't as dramatic as it could have been, and if I'd written this up as a fic on it's own, I'd have focused more on the others reactions and how they're feelings about Jason before he revealed that David had been hurting him, but it would have ended up being too long and I do try to keep these under 10,000 words. _

_I do like the way I kept it solely to Jason's p.o.v once the abuse had started however, I think it helps you see how truly isolated he was feeling and how much David had been manipulating the others as well as Jason. _

_As always, drop a review to tell me what you thought of this prompt, maybe with one of your own! _

_Next Story – Happy Accident? - Lindsey's thoughts and feelings when she finds out she'd pregnant – prompted by hattiexoxoxo _


	12. Happy Accident?

_Happy Accident?_

_This story has been prompted by hattiexoxoxo and the prompt was _**Lindsey's feelings when she first finds out she's pregnant. **

_Happy reading and I hope everyone enjoys it. _

"Just a minute," Lindsey shouted as someone knocked on the bathroom door, sighing as she heard Jason cursing from the other side. She checked her watch for what felt like the hundredth time, almost screaming when she realised there was still a minute left. Even though she knew it was stupid, she still looked at the pregnancy test in her hands, not surprised when she saw the small timer on the display screen.

Despite her earlier warning, Jason was still knocking incessantly on the door and she rolled her eyes at the younger boy's impatience. Knowing she would get no peace, Lindsey flushed the toilet and tried to make herself look a bit more presentable before pulling the door open with no warning.

"Cheers Linds," he muttered, pushing past her roughly. "Mum's cooking was a nightmare last night, I still ain't recovered." Rolling her eyes at Jason's dramatics, she wandered down the stairs, hoping to find more peace in the kitchen as she waited for the results to come through.

With every passing second, the dread and fear only built. Lindsey wasn't even sure if she wanted a baby or not, and it was because of that conflict that she hadn't gone out and bought a pregnancy test till that very morning, when it should probably have been done a few weeks back.

She hadn't had her period for the last two months and she knew that she should have checked sooner, but it was scary. That one little stick would tell her if she was going to be starting a family or not. Whether her whole life would be uprooted or not. Taking a deep breath, she made her way into the kitchen, not surprised (though a little annoyed) when she saw it was already inhabited.

"Thought you were at work?" Freddie asked, briefly looking over his shoulder, before turning back to the shelves, where he was pulling food from the cupboards.

"On a break," she lied, turning so the test was completely hidden from him, but she couldn't resist glancing down every few seconds as Freddie told her about how Ziggy had abandoned both him and Joe at the garage. His trailed off when he realised that she wasn't paying him full attention and placed his hand on her shoulder, getting her full attention once more.

"Are you okay Linds?" he asked and she shook her head, unable to keep it to herself for much longer. She had her suspicions for close to a month now, but she hoped beyond hope that her next period would come and she'd be able to let it all go. When it hadn't, she had resigned herself to what seemed extremely likely, rushing off at lunch to buy a do-it-yourself pregnancy kit.

"You're pregnant?" Freddie asked when he saw the test, sounding as shocked as she felt.

"We're about to find out," she replied, her voice shaking as she counted down the final five seconds on her watch before looking to the test again.

_Pregnant_

The one word stared at her and the young doctor could hardly believe what she was seeing. Tears blurred her vision as "You should talk to Joe," Freddie said quietly, reminding her that she wasn't on her own and she couldn't throw a fit about it, especially in front of the father's brother.

"No," she snapped, startling Freddie. "I mean, I'll tell him later. You still need to sort out those taxes." And she continued rambling, pulling out more food for the boys, though she didn't quieten, not until Freddie spoke up again, his eyes hard as they raked over her. Cold and accessing.

"I'm not sure if I want to keep it," she admitted, unable to look Freddie in the eye. It sounded terrible, but it was true. It wasn't in the plan for her to fall pregnant. Not yet anyway.

Of course her and Joe had talked about kids, and they'd both agreed that they wanted them someday, but not so soon. They'd just moved up to Chester, uprooting both of their lives. They weren't married. The garage was still in it's early days and could flop at any moment if someone took their eye off the ball.

She still didn't have job security, what with only being a newly qualified doctor and with having moved up to Dee Valley only a few weeks ago, well she'd been lucky to get the job in the first place, but to go and ask for maternity leave (no matter how short) was a dangerous move and something that she may regret later.

They still lived with Joe's mum for God's sake. Not that she didn't love Sandy, she adored her future mum to be, but when she envisioned the future, she didn't see herself with a child whilst still only engaged and sharing a house with five other people, if you didn't include her fiancé and child. Freddie didn't say anything for a moment, just stared at her as she tried to calm herself down.

Eventually he shrugged and said, "It's your choice I guess, just don't do anything you'll regret," before he bagged the few goodies he'd chosen for Joe and left the kitchen, front door slamming behind him.

The wave of emotions that had been building up for the past few weeks took over and she couldn't stop the few tears that escaped. Wiping them away, she took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. She needed to think about this rationally before she made any decisions. A baby was a big thing, her and Joe would be responsible for someone's life, would have to care for him/her and make sure they didn't get into trouble.

And whilst she knew Joe would love a baby (having come from such a large family it was only natural he yearned for a number of kids), she had to think about it sensibly. It wouldn't be a passing craze, they'd have an obligation to the child for the rest of their lives. Were they ready for that?

She was up for half the night (somewhat glad that Joe was working late), tossing and turning as she tried to come to a decision. But everytime she came to the same conclusion.

They'd be good parents, they'd love the baby with all their hearts, but would that be enough? They wouldn't have enough money, wouldn't have any privacy, wouldn't have job security for either of them. Was it worth it? Trying to bring up a child when they may not even be able to clothe it.

And was she even ready? She was just starting her career, her training only having ended six months ago. To give it up all so soon... well it stung and it wasn't something she was eager for. She loved her job, loved helping people and she'd wanted to be a doctor for so many years.

Lindsey wanted to scream at the unfairness of possibly giving it all up only months after she had achieved her dream. Basically, the conclusion that she reached every single time, was not a positive one.

Her and Joe weren't ready for a baby, not yet. In a few years, when they had their own place and had enough security to leave work, they could try again, but now was not the time. Having made her mind up on the difficult decision, she pulled her laptop to her and opened the Dee Valley hospital page, clicking onto the family planning clinic and going straight to the abortion page.

It was difficult reading the information, seeing the way they talked about abortions so clinically, as if the expecting mother was merely going to be popping out for a pint of milk, not doing something life changing.  
When she had finished reading her mind was made up. It may not be the wisest decision, especially as she was intending on never letting Joe know, but Lindsey knew having an abortion was the wisest decision. They could try for a baby again (not that they had been trying in the first place) and actually be able to bring it up well and surround it with love and security.

Ignoring the voice in the back of her head that reminded her that secrets and lies were always found out and that she may not be able to get pregnant again, Lindsey shut her laptop screen and got ready for bed. Hoping beyond hope that her decision was the right one. It had to be, for her and Joe's sake.

_And of course we all know what happens next. Hattiexoxoxo I hope you and everyone enjoyed reading this, I personally loved writing it, simply because I love getting into the heads of characters during scenes we've been shown and trying to figure out what they're thinking. _

_Next Story – Sandy reminisces, a story looking back over the years, to see how our favourite family have grown and developed – prompted by LawyerlyBrunette _


	13. Memories are Bittersweet

_Memories are bittersweet _

_This story was prompted by __LawyerlyBrunette and the prompt was __**A story looking at the Roscoe's past, like when the boys were kids. What was it like for Sandy bringing up five kids and what did their dad dying do to them?**_

Sometimes, when she had a free afternoon and was feeling pretty nostalgic, Sandy Roscoe loved to sit on the sofa, wrapped in her oldest and fluffiest dressing gown, drinking sweet hot tea that warmed her through, as she sifted through her old photo albums. One of these days occurred a few months after shortly moving into Hollyoaks village.

It was the first time she had had solely to herself since moving up to Chester, she had been incredibly busy and it felt like she hadn't stopped since arriving. But the boys were all out, getting up to God knows what and she had been promised a few golden hours of 'me-time'. So out came the face mask, the trashy reality TV and the boxes that were full of old photo albums, ranging from her childhood, to her boys, to present day.

She skipped the first few albums, in no mood to look at herself ageing through the years, stopping at the first album that she knew contained pictures of her and her Alan. The first few pages were pretty generic and contained pictures of Sandy and the whole crowd from university.

Although she only still talked to a couple of friends she had met all those years ago, she couldn't help but smile as the memories of all their escapades came rushing back. About halfway through the album, the pictures all slightly changed focus. Before they had all been group shots, from various trips, parties and other celebrations and whilst the groups of people rotated, the one constant was Sandy herself, standing tall and proud in every photo.

But then a new constant was added, a handsome young man with dark curly hair. He was always stood close by Sandy, wrapping his arms around her or making sure their hands were entwined.

"Alan," Sandy breathed, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall. The group shots were sporadically broken up by photos of the young couple, both smiling into the camera, looking every bit like the young lovers that they were.

She couldn't help but laugh at the last photo in the album, her dramatics from when she was younger still making her smile to this day. The picture had been blown up and took up the whole page and even now she still didn't know who had taken it.

Sandy and Alan were in the middle of a dance floor (though she couldn't remember where or why they'd been there), and it was a picture of pure happiness and romance. Alan was on one knee, a small ring visible in the picture as the younger Sandy looked down at him, her smile threatening to crack her face clean in two. In the small gap under the photo, Sandy from yesteryears had drawn a question mark under it (like her answer wasn't obvious just going by the expression on her face).

She moved onto the second album, unable to restrain the smile that broke free at the first picture (which like the last photo of the first album took up the whole page). It was from the same night, and must have been literally minutes after Alan had popped the question. The pair were standing together, smiling brightly into the camera as Sandy held up her left hand, perfectly showing off the small ring.

It hadn't been much, even then, but for Sandy it was perfect and even more. She couldn't have been happier and even now, that feeling resurfaced. The next few pictures were similar to the first album, many group shots (though both Sandy and Alan were always visible) broken up by couple shots of the pair. The only difference were the group shots and who they sometimes contained.

Whilst the first album had only consisted of university friends and were from parties, half of the large photos came from family meals (from both Sandy's side and Alan's), which only showed how serious their relationship was.

The final half was spread a bit more evenly, and not only documented Sandy's wedding (a beautiful but simple service) but also her first pregnancy with Joe, the final photo being of the new family. Sandy still remembered smiling into the camera, holding Joe for the first time as Alan squeezed her tightly, his pride for her showing through the photo years later.

The third album was spread out even more and the group shots of friends were even sparser, being replaced for family photos. Trips to the park, outings at the zoo, they were all there and time was best managed by Sandy's second growing bump as Freddie grew inside of her. Freddie's first photo entered the album halfway through, and the rest of the album documented many of Joe and Freddie's first moments together.

Joe pushing his baby brother's pram (even if he could barely reach the handles himself), the pair sound asleep on a picnic blanket, successfully sandwiching their father who was also lightly napping, both in high chairs, faces caked in baby food. Just like all the previous albums, the final page only held one picture. Ziggy's ultrasound.

Like the past few albums, the fourth one documented Sandy's pregnancy incredibly well, until baby Ziggy burst onto the scene about a third of the way through. The pictures were constantly changing, sometimes they were family shots, there were pictures that just featured the boys, just Alan and Sandy on a rare night out and few pictures of them with their wide circle of friends.

The pictures stayed pretty much the same till the end of the album, archiving the boys growing up and getting into various amounts of mischief as they grew.

The final picture of that album was a family portrait, she remembered the day well. They were all dressed up (at Sandy's insistence) and smiling widely at the camera. They were the perfect family. Two loving parents with three beautiful (and definitely cheeky) boys. Little did they know, that two more would be added to the brood in just a few short months after the picture had been taken.

The fifth album started off with another ultrasound, though unlike the previous ones, this one revealed two babies. The word surprise was written underneath in block capitals.

Alan and Sandy had never planned on having more kids (three was the perfect number they had said), though when they'd found out that Sandy was pregnant with twin five years after Ziggy had been born, the whole family had been overjoyed. There was a clear difference between all the other pictures than before, and that was that Sandy took up a lot more room with her ever increasing bump.

The first picture taken after Robbie and Jason were born was probably Sandy's favourite. She was lying on the hospital bed, clearly exhausted but delighted, whilst Joe and Freddie sat on either side of her, cradling a baby each and smiling into the camera. Ziggy was pouting in the corner, unable to hold one of his newborn brothers, though he was sat comfortably on his Dad's knee and you could see the amusement written all over his face.

It was their first picture as a family and Sandy knew she'd treasure it till the day she died.

After that, there were two more albums, all of the same things. Days out, days in, birthdays, Christmases and holidays. They were all there, documented well so no-one would ever forget them. Showing the change in the family as they all grew from boys into young men, Sandy and Alan ageing well as time passed.

Sandy paused when she got halfway through the seventh album, staring at the picture, knowing what was coming next. They had all been at the park, having a picnic under one of the large oak trees as they got a passing dog walker to take a family photo for them.

They were all on the mat, Jason and Robbie giggling madly in the corner, planning to get into some sort of mischief as all ten year olds do. Ziggy was brooding by the side, his lips upturned into a compulsory smile as he did what every fifteen year old boy did when they were dragged out with the family. And that is, pretend they wish they could be anywhere but there. Joe and Freddie were smiling much wider, having moved past the 'I hate my family and everyone else in this world' stage and were simply enjoying their time with their family.

But Sandy and Alan were practically glowing in the picture. Sure they were older than they had been in their first picture together. Twenty six years older in fact, but they sure as hell didn't look it. They were more in love than ever and it sure showed in the one photograph.

It was one of the last happy pictures they'd had as family and the last one that had been put in one of the many photo albums. Just days later, Alan had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. He'd had chemo as soon as possible but the cancer was simply too advanced and the treatment did nothing but kill him quicker as the disease ravaged through his body

. Mere months after that photo had been taken, the family were burying one of their own, mourning their devastating loss.

Knowing she was home alone, Sandy didn't try to compose herself, letting the tears fall free as she turned to the next page. All of these pictures were taken after Alan's death and there was a definite change in them all.

Although the family were all smiling into the cameras, desperately trying to show they'd healed, that they had moved on, it all fell short when you looked into their eyes. Their eyes were all dead, no sense of happiness to be seen, instead taken over by the immense sadness that they were all under.

Sandy smiled bitterly as she remembered how twisted her family had become when dealing with the loss of one of their own. Through some unspoken agreement, Joe and Freddie had split the father role between them. They supported Ziggy, Jason and Robbie whenever they could and in turn it aged the pair beyond their years.

They had been twenty three and twenty respectively and should have been out partying with mates and meeting new people (just as Sandy had done at their age), but the loss of their beloved father had prevented that as both boys... no men had stepped up to the mark and taken on their added responsibilities with no complaints.

Unsurprisingly, the twins became more exaggerated versions of themselves. Robbie had always been quite competitive and argumentative as a child, but after the loss of his father he went off the rails (or as much as a ten year old boy could). He would start fights in the playground for no apparent reason and would do anything to win, even if it wasn't a competition.

Whilst Robbie only got louder and more _spiky_ around new people, Jason did the exact opposite. Sandy had always noticed the slight differences in the pair's behaviour, but it was really highlighted when they were mourning for her late husband.

Jason withdrew himself completely, refusing to talk to anyone bar Robbie during school and Sandy often found him hiding under the stairs, book in hand as he tried to get lost in other worlds, where he could forget his losses and his grief and himself completely.

Ziggy was the biggest surprise though. Before his dad had died, he'd always been laidback. He'd had a few girlfriends, though nothing too serious, but after? It was like a switch had been flipped, and the middle child became brash and outspoken, unwittingly getting himself into trouble as he tried to play it cool at school, trying desperately to impress his peers.

Fortunately all five of her children had mellowed out over the years and this was shown from the pictures that littered the albums over the seven year time span. It hadn't been easy, bringing up her five sons on her own for the last seven years, they did things they shouldn't, got into fights and other things that made her head hurt even thinking about it.

But they made her proud too. They carried on Alan's garage and made it flourish under their watch. They did as well as they could in school and then did everything they could to make life easier once they'd left.

They hadn't always had it easy, but they'd done everything they could to make it worthwhile. They were survivors, every single one of them and Sandy couldn't be prouder to call them her children.

_I hope everyone, especially LawyerlyBrunette, enjoyed this story. I loved writing it, because it gave me chance to give a backstory to the family and develop ideas I'd already had. _

_Obviously there are some changes in the canon version, the main one being that Robbie and Jason aren't actually Alan's children (this was briefly mentioned this week but no other details have been revealed so there wouldn't have been much for me to work from) and as this chapter has been long since written (I try to write chapters in advance to keep my updates regular) this detail was obviously not included. _

_Next Story – Jason's diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes, but it's not exactly smooth sailing prompted by __Reallyme_


	14. A Spoonful of Sugar

_Spoonful of Sugar _

_This story has been prompted by reallyme and the prompt was _**Jason being diagnosed with diabetes. **

When Jason was eleven years old he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. It was a difficult time for the family; the boy's father and Sandy's loving husband Alan Roscoe had died only a few months before and they were still trying to adjust with the gaping hole left in their hearts. It was for this reason that it took so long for Jason to be diagnosed.

He had never liked causing a fuss and when the ten year old boy woke up gasping for water in the middle of the night or when he had to suddenly rush to the toilet to empty his bladder he didn't really think into it. He didn't even notice the weightloss that much either, he had never kept track of his weight and only realised he was a bit skinnier when he had to tighten the belt on his jeans to stop them from falling down.  
Sandy, still taken over by the grief had summed up his shrinking waistline to a growth spurt (never mind the fact that Jason wasn't getting much taller) and everyone else agreed with her. Everyone but one person. Robbie had noticed that his twin was acting differently, he was quieter and more withdrawn and couldn't quite put his finger on why.

But the whole family was different now as they tried to deal with their loss, so he didn't say anything, thinking he was just being paranoid and nothing more.

He promised himself that he would watch out for his twin though and see if he went back to his playful self. He didn't. As time went by, Jason only got worse. He sat by himself in the playground, too exhausted to play football with all the other boys, trying desperately to keep his eyes open where he sat and he was always tripping over his own feet in PE, which wasn't like him at all.

He saw that Jason was getting thinner too, one night when they were getting changed into pyjamas his ribs were faintly visible though it confused the young Roscoe. He saw Jason eating all the time, he'd even had two helpings of dinner that night and it had been Mum's disgusting lasagne! Robbie hadn't been able to even eat half of it. So how was his brother getting thinner?

He slept more too. Before, Jason was the one who had to get Robbie up on school days but now it was the other way round. Even on their eleventh birthday Jason was off. The pair had been excited since last year, but on the actual day Jason spent most of his time sleeping (luckily it was a Saturday), only emerging from his room to sluggishly open presents and to gorge on some birthday cake (fortunately it was shop bought and not homemade).

"Oh it's a shame Jason's got the flu," Sandy said at the end of the day as she cleared away wrapping paper. She still hurt from the death of her beloved, still cried herself to sleep, but she was getting better. She was getting herself out of the dark hole she'd been in for the past few months and Robbie was glad that he was getting his mum back. Losing one parent was hard enough, but two? He wouldn't have been able to cope.

"And on his birthday." Joe sighed, licking the chocolate icing off his fingers. The others all agreed though Robbie stayed silent. Jason was sick, he could see that and had seen it for the past few weeks, but he didn't think it was the flu. The flu went away after one or two weeks (he would know, he'd had it earlier that year), but Jason had been acting weird for almost a month now.

He was worried for his twin, but what could he do?

He was only eleven years old, and despite gaining an extra number onto his age, he was no more experienced than he had been the day before. Going against his instinct, he decided to trust the others. After all they were adults, if they said it was the flu it had to be. Right?

It all came to head less than a couple of days later. Jason was only getting worse, his hair laying limp across his head, his skin even more ashen and Sandy was becoming more and more concerned for her youngest's wellbeing. She made a doctor's appointment for the next day, hoping that he'd be able to tell her what she was missing.

It was a warm summers day and the whole family were spending time with one another in the garden. Robbie had managed to convince Jason to go exploring with him, even though the smaller boy wanted nothing more than to lie down and go to sleep. They were hidden well at the back of the yard, climbing through the hedges when Jason collapsed, hitting his head on the ground as he fell. Having heard the crash behind him, Robbie turned and was shocked by what he saw.

Shaking himself out of it, he ran back to the others, calling their names and trying to stay as calm as he could. They followed him at a run when he tried to explain what was going on, all trying to get the frail boy to wake up, though nothing happened.

"Call an ambulance," Sandy yelled, checking over Jason and making sure he hadn't seriously hurt his head when he fell. The ambulance came within minutes, though they only let Sandy come with Jason.

"I want to go," Robbie protested, being held back by Freddie as he watched his twin being loaded into the ambulance. "This is all my fault."

"What?" Freddie asked, shocked at what Robbie was saying. "This is nobodies fault sport, least of all yours."

"But I knew he wasn't well. I knew it wasn't the flu, if I'd said something he'd be okay."

Realising what his younger brother was implying, Freddie pulled him into a tight hug, hoping to dispel any fears and insecurities. "Robbie you are not to blame for this in the slightest. At least you noticed something was wrong with Jase when none of us did. And you were so brave earlier, I know I wouldn't have stayed as calm as you did."  
"Yeah?" Robbie asked, looking slightly cheered up, though it was still outweighed by the worry he felt for his brother.

"Yeah." Freddie soothed as he watched the ambulance race down the street before shooting into action with the others. They loaded themselves into the family car and drove as quickly as law would allow to the hospital, grateful when they saw Sandy waiting at the reception desk for them.

"Thank God," she breathed, dragging them through the winding corridors until they reached a quiet hallway.

"Is he okay?" Joe asked, the others all waiting for the answer with baited breath.

Sandy shrugged, looking helpless. "The doctors are doing some tests now. The results will come through soon." Soon seemed to drag on forever, but eventually a doctor made his way down the corridor and stopped when he reached the family.

"As you know, we've taken a blood test and a urine test to make sure we know what's wrong with Jason," he started, his voice slow and soothing, though it did little to calm the anxious family. "There was a large number of ketones in Jason's urine and he's severely dehydrated."

"What's wrong with him?" Freddie snapped, in no mood to listen to the man's ramblings.

"We believe Jason has type 1 diabetes and without the insulin his blood glucose levels have been raising steadily until it got too much for his body, leading to his earlier collapse. He fell into diabetic ketoacidosis because without the necessary insulin, the glucose couldn't enter his cells and provide energy. His body instead began to break down fat, which is why he's lost so much weight recently, and a lot of toxic acids began building up in his bloodstream.

"We've managed to avoid him falling into a coma, but he is resting at the moment and we would like to keep him in overnight to make sure his blood glucose stays at a safe level and that he's hydrated enough."

"Of course doctor," Sandy nodded, paling as she realised just how close to death her baby had been. How had she not noticed how sick Jason really was? Had she been so lost in her grief that she hadn't picked up on her own son's suffering? Cursing herself for being so self absorbed, she vowed to do better in the future, her boys were the most important things in her life and she wouldn't put anything (even herself) over them again.

So lost in thought, Sandy didn't notice when Joe stood and looked through the room's window, staring intently at his little brother. "I think he's waking up," he breathed, nudging Sandy as he spoke. She shot up and entered the room as the others all watched closely.

"Hey sweetie," she smiled as Jason stirred.

"Where am I?" he asked, looking at his surrounding in confusion.

"In the hospital, you gave us quite a fright." Sandy told him gently, before she went to explain the basics of what happened. "I'm so sorry sweetheart."

"What have you got to be sorry for?" Jason asked, sitting up and sounding incredibly confused.

"I should have noticed something was wrong earlier on."

"But I didn't tell you when I was feeling ill." Jason argued, even hours after collapsing he was still the most logical one in the family.

"Well I'm never leaving you out of my sight," Sandy promised, hugging him tightly as the young boy squirmed under her grip. Sandy knew she should have spotted that something was wrong with Jason much earlier on and now she'd failed him for not doing so.

But that was never going to happen again, Sandy promised herself she would never fail her family again, resolving to do anything and everything she could for them in the future.

A rule she stuck with for the rest of her life.

_Well that was quite fluffy at end, although I wasn't overly happy with it. _

_Next Story – Grease is the word – Jason and Holly are cast in their local school production and sparks begin to fly! _


	15. Grease is the Word

_Grease is the Word _

_So I've had a few asks to do a Holly and Jason story, so here you go. And what better way to do that, then with a cliché high school drama performance! _

"And the school play for this Christmas is going to be the ever popular musical, Grease!" Mr Blake announced at the end of the 'beginning of the year assembly'. Groups of teens began widely chattering (mainly the drama fanatics) as Patrick tried to hush them all.

When they eventually did he smiled, looking down at his notes once more before looking back to his students. "That is all for now. Everyone have a good school year, for a lot of you it will be the most important year in your life and I want to wish everyone the best of luck. Now if you head to your first lessons."

The teens all grumbled lightly, though began filing out of the hall, still talking about the new musical. In previous years, the students of Hollyoaks High had performed boring and _safe_ plays, which didn't capture anyone's attention and as such only got the bare minimum of performers needed. Patrick sorely hoped that his risk of choosing a well known but risqué musical would pay off. The students were definitely excited about it.

"Are you sure about this?" Mr Lomax, the school's new performing arts teacher asked.

"I'm never sure about anything Danny," Patrick replied as he watched the students leave the hall. "But life is all about risks and why not start with the school play? Grease is a widely popular musical and everyone knows it."  
"It's just... I've been talking to the other teachers and the school has never had a lot of luck with getting a large number of students to sign up before and Grease is going to need a large cast."

"It will be fine," Patrick promised before he left the hall, leaving behind an extremely worried drama teacher behind. He sure hoped so.

}}}}}}}

The sign up sheet was pinned up on the school's notice board at break-time that day, and just as Patrick had predicated, dozens of names had already been written up. Including Holly Cunningham's.

"I just don't get why you've signed up." Her close friend Jade said snidely. "The school play is full of losers, why are you putting yourself through that?"

"I like performing," Holly replied simply. And it was true. In her old boarding school she had always signed up for the plays, loving the thrill she got from being on stage. Through the years, as she got older, her roles always got bigger and she'd had a number of solos in the last play she'd taken part in. This year, she was desperate to get the lead. "And I look like Sandy so it's pretty much clear I'll get her role."

"Right," Jade snorted. "You're a year eleven love, the sixth formers always get priority roles, always have done. And the school don't exactly care if you look the part or not. You should have seen who played Jasmine in Aladdin last year."

Rolling her eyes at her friend, Holly made her way to Maths, already planning her audition song.

}}}}}}}}

"This is just pathetic," Jason groaned, looking down at his woefully empty CV. "I'll never get into my first choice university if I don't get more things on here." His tutor, Mr McQueen, picked up the slip of paper and read through it.

"Your grades are all fantastic, but I admit it does need a bit more fleshing out." John Paul had started off his first tutor session of the year by promising to help all his students out with whatever they needed. Whether that be personal problems or help with moving on from the school at the end of the year.

That included writing letters of recommendation and helping the kids with their CV's and personal statements. No-one could say that he wasn't passionate about his job.

This was the reason why Jason found himself in the English classroom as he desperately tried to think of more things to add to his own CV. "Is there anything I can do this year that will help?"

"Well you already have a job so that aspect is covered," John-Paul mused, trying to think of something that would help his panicking student. "You could always audition for the play?"

Jason let out a short bark of laughter before he realised that his teacher was completely serious. "Uh no way. I don't do things like that, crippling stage fright."

"It's the only thing that the school offers for your age group," John Paul said regrettably. "Although there are a number of clubs, they are directed at the lower years. And there's no harm in auditioning surely."

Jason sighed, trying to think of anything else that would mean he wouldn't have to do the play. He knew he had a decent enough voice, but the thought of making a prat out of himself in front of the school was something he was not looking forward to.

"Fine," he sighed, glaring at John-Paul's triumphant look, when he realised there was nothing else he could go for.

He gathered his books as he made his way to the notice board, scribbling his name down on the already full sheet. A lot of people had signed up, he probably wouldn't even get a part. Right?

}}}}}}}}}

Auditions were held a week later, and as the final bell rung, a noticeable percentage of the student population didn't pass the school gates, instead making their way to the assembly hall, which also contained the stage.

"Hello everyone," Danny begun when everyone had found a seat. He was pleasantly surprised by the turnout and hoped it would mean the play would be a success. "When I call your name I want you to come up here to the stage, tell me the part you'll be going for and what song you'll be auditioning with. Once you've auditioned feel free to leave, though no-one will make you.

"However, if you cause any sort of disturbance or mock anyone for their audition then I will eject you and your audition will be counted as void, meaning your potential place in the musical will be cut. Am I understood?"

The various pupils all nodded, looking slightly nervous at the prospect of having to perform in front of their peers. It was a good exercise though and why Danny had chosen it. If they couldn't handle auditioning in front a few extra people, then they wouldn't be able to cope performing when the place was packed.

It instantly cut out a few people from the process and made his job that bit easier. "Well let's get started." he said, calling out the first name and watched as a nervous year nine made her way onto the stage.

Overall the audition process went very smoothly, a few people had frozen on stage, whilst some others were completely tone deaf, but there had been others who were absolutely fantastic. Halfway through, Danny was pretty sure he had found his leads in two talented sixth formers.

"Holly Cunningham," he called, watching as the petite blonde bounced up the stairs and Jason felt like crying as he watched her. If performing in front a load of people wasn't going to be bad enough, he would now have to do it in front of Holly herself.

He didn't even think this was her sort of thing and he could only hope that he didn't make a fool in front of her. Or that she simply decided to leave once she was done, though it wasn't looking likely. The majority of people had stayed on after the auditions and Jason knew it would be just his luck that Holly would do the same thing.

"I'm going to be auditioning for the role of Sandy," she said clearly, ignoring the sniggers from the upperclassmen who weren't impressed that she was going for the lead. "And I'll be singing Taylor Swift's, Love Story."

As she sang softly into the microphone Jason was captivated. Her vocals were sweet though there was hidden strength present too. He'd be really surprised if she didn't get her part, younger student or not. All too soon she'd finished and was making her way off the stage, smiling and laughing as her friends congratulated her.

But Jason couldn't focus on the interactions in front of him as Danny read his name out next.

Swallowing down his nerves, he made his way to the stage though he couldn't help the sick feeling that rose as he saw the number of people watching him intently, one of those being Holly, a look of amusement written all over her face.

"Urmm I'm auditioning for Kenickie," he started, refusing to look anywhere but at Mr Lomax who shot him a reassuring smile, obviously sensing his nerves. "And I'll be singing Sia's Titanium."

"Interesting choice. Good luck," Danny said, already making notes on his papers. Taking a deep breath, Jason began singing, getting lost in the music as the meagre audience melted away. His confidence only soared as the song continued and all too soon it was over.

"Thank you Jason," Danny said, a genuine smile on his face. Jason nodded, rushing off the stage as his nerves came back in full force. Unlike the majority of people he quickly left the hall, completely missing the way his peers looked utterly impressed.

}}}}}}}}}}

A week later, the castings were released and everyone who had auditioned went rushing to the listings. Many of them left looking disappointed when they saw they didn't get the part they wanted and were instead given much smaller roles, or even none at all.

One of those people was Holly. The year thirteen that Danny had instantly seen as Sandy had been chosen much to the blonde's annoyance.

"Told ya," Jade said shrugging, still reading through the listings. "You still got a big part though," pointing at Holly's name.

"Rizzo," she smiled. The character was a good one and would be great fun to play. "Wait, who's Kenickie?" She quickly found the part, rolling her eyes as she saw the accompanying name. "Just great."

Just down the hall, Jason was hanging back, his nerves obvious for everyone to see. "Just go," Robbie told him, oblivious to how he was feeling. "You'll have obviously got a part."

"You don't know that," Jason snapped back.

"Uh yeah I do. You're great at singing Jase, Lomax would be stupid not to put you up." Robbie replied, pushing Jason forward. Glaring at his twin, Jason steeled himself and made his way to the listing.

He found his name quickly and couldn't help but laugh in relief. "I got it," he called over to Robbie who ran over to him. "I got Kenickie!"

"Course you did mate," Robbie said, laughing at his twin's dramatics. "Who got Rizzo?"

"Holly," Jason breathed when he found her name.

"Ey ey," Robbie laughed again. "All your Christmases have come at once."

"Oh shut up." Jason said softly, not believing his luck.

}}}}}}}}

The first audition was a quiet affair as Danny handed out the scripts and talked them through his 'vision' for the play. He quickly paired up all the couples and got them reading out their scenes together, desperate to see if they had the needed chemistry to make the play a success.

Before Holly and Jason could start, Holly stared him down. "Look, I know you have this obsessive crush on me, but you better not start acting freaky. I need to show Sir I can do this if I want to get the lead next year and you are not ruining this for me. This is not a crappy rom-com and just because we have a kissing scene doesn't mean I'm going to fall madly in love with you. Am I clear?"

"Crystal." Jason snapped, bristling at the tone the younger girl used on him. He was there not because he wanted to be, but because he needed to be to get to a good university.

He didn't need the experience to be ruined further because the girl he was acting with was going to be the biggest bitch going. Mad crush on her or not.

Shocked at Jason's hostility, Holly nodded, picking up her script, reading her line as Jason said his back to her. This continued for a few more minutes until Danny made his way round to the pair.

"Woah guys," he said, effectively interrupting them. "What is this?"

"Us reading out our lines," Jason deadpanned, causing Holly to smile, surprised by his sarcasm.

"Yes it is," their teacher agreed with them, though he didn't sound impressed. "But where's the chemistry? The lust? The spark between Rizzo and Kenickie that everyone loves so much?"

"Oh no sir, Holly doesn't do that," Jason said before Holly could even open her mouth. "She thinks so much of herself that if either us show any sort of emotion, I'll fall madly in love with her."

"I never said that," Holly gasped, speechless by what the usually meek boy had just said. "You're twisting what I said, just because I didn't want-"

"Oh please," Jason interrupted, much to the amusement of Danny. "You're just so up your own-"

"How dare you," Holly spat, effectively interrupting the older boy once more.

"And that is what I'm talking about," Danny said loudly, before either of them could do or say anything they'd regret. "There's that passion I want. Now, if you could just put it to the script." He looked pointedly at them, until they began reciting their lines once more.

Even they could see the improvement, the 'spark' that Danny had been talking about was there. The lines heavy with innuendo now as they flirted easily, trying to outdo the other, continuing even when the teacher was out of earshot. The rest of rehearsal went by smoothly and the next forty minutes passed by in a blur until Danny called everyone back together.

"That was brilliant guys," he said honestly. "And now that we've sorted out everyone's _chemistry_," at this he looked pointedly at Jason and Holly, "I think I know I was right in casting everyone. Next rehearsal is on Monday and we're going to start working on the dance routines. They will undoubtedly be the hardest thing to figure out, so we're going to spend three of the four rehearsals working on those, whilst every Thursday afternoon will be solely focused on running through scenes."

The cast all smiled, buzzing for the next practice as they began packing up. Jason watched as Holly left the classroom with a friend and couldn't help but smile. This year sure would be interesting.

}}}}}}}}

For the next few weeks rehearsals went smoothly. Dance moves were perfected, songs were learnt and lines were not just spoken, but acted. Danny was becoming more and more confident that the play would be a success as all the cast were working better with each other with every passing day.

This also rung true for Jason and Holly. The need for them to be with each other so much, meant that they learnt a lot about the other and what they found out, they liked.

Jason had realised that his suspicions about the blonde had been right, that whilst she was frosty and seemed like a bitch to many people, there were hidden depths to her and she wasn't a bimbo that the majority viewed her as. There was a warmth to her too, and once you'd uncovered it, it never left.

What Holly had learnt about Jason had been completely surprising for her. She had originally viewed him as incredibly meek and someone who would never stick up for themselves due to lack of backbone.

But as she got to know him, she realised that couldn't be further from the truth. He had a very sharp sense of humour and many times she had been left gasping for air as she tried to control the laughter that shook through her. And as for never sticking up for something he believed in, well she was proven wrong a month into rehearsals.

_Bobby Walters was probably one of the most... unpleasant people in the school and Holly would never know how he had managed to wrangle himself a role in the play (despite how small it was). He had always made her skin crawl, even though Jade was besotted by him and the pair had been dating for the past few months. Had been, being the correct phrase. _

_He'd been caught with another girl at a house party the previous weekend, leading to Jade very publicly dumping him only days later. Safe to say Bobby had been furious and was a ball of angry energy throughout the day, snapping at everyone, just itching for a fight. His terrible mood had cast a dark cloud over rehearsals and he had spent the majority of his time glaring at Holly, no doubt for simply being friends with his ex. _

_When Mr Lomax had left the room in search of sheet music, Bobby had instantly sprung up, sauntering over to Holly who had frozen. "I bet you're loving this Cunningham," he snarled. "You've never liked me, always shooting me these little looks like you're all that. Yeah, well you're not." _

"_Bobby," Jason had said flatly from beside her, the warning in his tone obvious for all. _

"_Oh, isn't that cute. Got your little lapdog to fight me have you?" Jason's cheeks flushed an impressive red and Bobby turned back to Holly. "You're just a teasing little bitch. You all are, promising guys all that and then never putting out." _

"_Hey!" Jason snapped, standing up suddenly and blocking Holly from sight. "Don't talk to her like that." _

"_And what are you going to do? You're just pathetic Roscoe, trailing after her and begging for her to notice. You're not man enough for her,"  
"And you are?" Jason snarled, ignoring Holly's pleas for him to sit down. _

"_I don't think anyone's man enough for a little slut like her," _

"_Mr Walters!" Danny yelled, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Detention for the next two weeks for using that language. And if it's not already clear, you're out of the play." _

"_Fine," Bobby snapped, grabbing his bag and pushing roughly past the teacher, leaving a heavy silence in the classroom. Holly's breathing was shallow and she tried not to jump as Jason sat closely next to her. _

"_Are you okay?" he asked, noting her panicked look. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak, though Jason didn't let her out of his sight for the rest of rehearsal. _

It had been nice, she'd never had anyone stick up for her like Jason had and she couldn't help but change her opinion on him. After that she couldn't help but notice other things about the older boy. His kind nature, the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled, the way he fiddled with his sleeves when he was nervous.

With a month left to go till the first performance, Holly had to admit it to herself. She was falling for Jason Roscoe.

"So today we're going to do the scene where Rizzo and Kenickie are interrupted in the car park by Leo and Cha-Cha who then challenge them to the car race," Danny said, starting off that evening's rehearsal.

Holly and Jason exchanged a nervous look as they realised what their teacher was also implying. Today would be the first time they did their kissing scene, and whilst they had read through the scene a fair few times, they had never acted it out, and both were feeling incredibly nervous for obvious reasons.

They hopped up onto the stage and begun the scene, flirting furiously with one another before they leant in. As soon as their lips touched, the rest of the world melted away. They forgot that they were surrounded by a dozen or so of their peers, getting lost in the motions until Danny loudly cleared his throat. The pair sprung apart, blushing furiously as the others laughed loudly.

"If we could continue with the rest of the scene?" Both Jason and Holly nodded sharply, trying to get through their lines as well as they could, though both were solely focused on what had happened just moments before. Oddly enough, Danny didn't ask them to redo the scene, choosing instead to skip to a much 'safer' part of the play, where there was no kissing involved.

The last thirty minutes was a blur for Holly as she tried to think of what to do next. She had been suspicious of her feelings for the youngest Roscoe for a while now and that kiss had confirmed that she did have genuine feelings for him. She'd have to tell him, it was only fair. And maybe (hopefully), he'd still like her could see it now, he'd be the perfect boyfriend and her hands were clammy just thinking about it.

But as she turned to Jason at the end of rehearsal, he was no-where to be seen. Whirling around, she saw him slip out of the door and she pushed past the rest of the cast in hope to reach him. Everywhere she went, Jason was always out of earshot, always turning around the next corner, unaware that Holly was desperately chasing after him. It was like a sick game of cat and mouse and when she reached the school gates, he was no-where to be seen.

Telling herself that she could talk to him tomorrow, she turned back to the school, having left her bag in the drama classroom.

}}}}}}}}}}

But Jason wasn't in school the next day. Or the next. On the third day, Holly spotted him in the canteen, but by the time she'd reached his table, he'd disappeared once more. She sighed and quickly left in hopes to see him again, not noticing the odd look Robbie was giving her. Holly had pinned it all down to coincidence, that they were missing each other due to bad luck, though that all changed in that night's rehearsal.

When he appeared in the drama room that evening, he walked straight past Holly and his usual seat, choosing to sit with some guys in his year. When she shot him a questioning look, he turned to Danny and didn't look her way for the rest of the lesson.

That was when it hit Holly, they hadn't been missing each other, Jason had been purposefully ignoring her. But why? They'd been fine, no better than fine, they'd been great. Until the kiss. Realisation struck as Holly figured out she was too late. Jason had been crushing on her for months, but when she finally admitted to herself that she felt the same way (and was brave enough to do something about it), he was no longer interested.

She wanted to laugh and cry at the irony of the situation. She was too late, she'd missed her chance to be with the one person that could make her comfortable in her own skin. She'd never been so thankful that her and Jason weren't doing any scenes together that night.

This pattern continued for a few more weeks, Holly and Jason not even interacting unless they were rehearsing a scene together. No-one had noticed that anything was wrong, their chemistry on stage was still as brilliant as it had been before, and it made Holly want to cry even more at all the possibilities that were now impossible.

They hadn't done the kissing scene again (though they had done everything around it) and for that Holly was thankful. She didn't think she'd be able to cope, knowing that she had something so right, so magical and knowing it wasn't real and never would be.

"So we're performing next week and you've all been amazing guys," Danny said, truly proud of all his students and what they had achieved in just a few short months. "There's just one scene that needs a little work and that's Sandy and Danny's first date. So if we just go and run through that a few times."

Everyone positioned themselves, beginning effortlessly when Mr Lomax motioned for them to do so. The first part of the scene was easy enough, Holly noted. All she had to do was flirt with Jason, she could do that, she'd been doing that for months now. The rest was harder though. Arguing was difficult, unlike the flirting she couldn't throw herself into the scene, scared she'd lose control and start demanding answers from him.

Unfortunately Danny had also noticed that she wasn't putting her all into it (and surprisingly commented on Jason's unwillingness to be there too). He got everyone else to get off stage, only leaving the pair, instructing them to do the scene again. Danny read out all the other lines, as both Holly and Jason recited theirs, nerves growing as they got ever closer to their character's arguments.

It would be different to all the other rehearsals, they could both feel the electricity crackling between them as they spoke, and they knew that whatever happened would be explosive.

"Oh great, I've been stuck with the check again," Jason groaned, rolling his eyes exaggeratedly."What is with you tonight Rizz? You've got the personality of a wet mop."

"Don't start with me. Not when this is all your fault in the first place." Holly snapped, wincing as she broke character. Half of that wasn't in the script, and whilst it wasn't far from what Rizzo would have been feeling (if she had been real that is), it definitely hadn't been scripted.

The extra part from her had startled Jason and he paused as he tried to get back into character, mentally making sure his response would still make sense. But his pause was just a bit too long, and Holly's anger bubbled up once more. As he opened his mouth, she beat him to the punch.

"Don't you dare start on me. What the hell have I done to deserve the way you've been treating me for the last few weeks hey? You've been completely ignoring me and I've got no clue why, what the hell have I done? I thought we were good, I thought we were friends."

"And that's just it," Jason exploded, Danny's head banging on the desk as the whole situation lost control. "We're just friends. You wanted to know why I've been ignoring you? It's because it hurts too much otherwise. I thought it would be easier, to leave you alone instead of being publicly rejected once again."

"What?" Holly breathed, shocked to the core. "I'd never do that."

"Is that right? So am I mistaken when I remember you calling me a freak and obsessive?" The rest of the hall gasped, fully enjoying the current turn of events.

Before Holly could respond, Danny ran onto stage, effectively splitting them up. "I think you two are done. How about you go, cool off and sort out whatever the hell is going on." Holly and Jason glared at one another, before making their way out of the hall. An awkward silence blanketed them, and they simply stared at one another uneasily.

"I don't think you're a freak," Holly began slowly. "I never did."

"Huh, could of fooled me."

"And why are we acting like I'm in the wrong for something I said months ago? We moved past that, we were friends. You've been the one ignoring me Jason, I just want to know why."

"Because I still like you!" he practically shouted, shocking Holly into silence.

"What?" she asked dumbly, not daring to believe what she was hearing. Did... did she still have a chance?

"I still like you," Jason repeated himself, looking like it physically pained him to do so. "And I thought I had gotten over it or that I could get over it, but when we kissed I just..."

"Felt something." Holly whispered, fighting hard to control her smile. "Oh my God, we're so stupid." she laughed, as she realised their whole argument was down to a simple miscommunication.

"What?" Jason asked, his confusion clear.

"On the day that we did that kissing scene I tried to find you after rehearsal."

"Yeah?"

"Uhuh," Holly nodded, taking a deep breath as she prepared herself to say something that had been on her mind for the past few weeks. "I had felt something between us before then, but when we kissed I knew."

"That you knew what?" But he was smiling and Holly knew that Jason knew what she was implying.

"That I liked you," she said, blushing lightly. Jason's smile only grew as he walked over to Holly, taking her hands in his. They stared at each for a moment before they leaned in for another kiss, even more magical than the first one had been.

Holly vaguely realised that her life was becoming just like a crappy rom-com that she promised herself it would never do, but she couldn't bring herself to care as she lost herself completely in the kiss.

"If you two are done," their drama teacher's voice once again interrupted them. Turning they couldn't control their laughter as he was blocked by the door, obviously having walked in on them. "I'd really like to get rehearsing again." Still laughing the young couple walked into the assembly hall, hands entwined.

}}}}}}}

"I can't do this," Jason panicked. It was a week later and the night of the first performance. The hall was packed as families and friends alike eagerly waited for the play to start.

"Calm down Jase," Holly tried to sooth her boyfriend, though he paid her no mind. Although they had been only dating for a week their relationship was going well and getting stronger by the day. "Jason, just look at me. Look at me!" Finally Jason turned, though the panic was still there.

"I can't do this Hols, God why did I even audition?"

"Because you're amazing and you've got one hell of a voice," Holly told him sternly though it didn't seem to have gone in, as he only paled when Mr Blake began welcoming everyone in and going through the fire drill.

"Oh for the love of-" Holly sighed, pulling her boyfriend (and she still hadn't gotten used to saying that) into a searing kiss. "Better?" she asked, when they pulled away.

"Uhuh," Jason nodded dumbly.

"Good and now I need to redo my lipstick." She smiled, pulling Jason into a tight hug. "You'll be fine, I promise. See you on a stage," and with a wink Holly left Jason, venturing further backstage, feeling his gaze on her until she turned around the corner.

How had she gotten so lucky? She couldn't help but wonder as she reapplied her make-up, quickly running back to the wings when she was done and catching Jason's eye as she went.

"Break a leg," he mouthed from the other side of the stage.

"You too," she replied, smiling as she stepped onto stage and into the role. Maybe being the lead wasn't all that, after all.

_Aww, so much fluff! Hopefully everyone enjoyed reading this as I did writing it! _

_Next Story – Frindsey, we finally get some Freddie and Lindsey! Though it's not exactly smooth sailing. _


	16. Cheating Hearts

_Cheating Hearts_

_So this isn't chapter isn't written from an exact prompt, but I have had many people asking for a Freddie and Lindsey story. Well ask and you shall receive! As the title suggests it's not all rainbow and puppies, but nevertheless, I hope you'll all still enjoy it. _

Lindsey remembered the exact moment that it started, the day her heart betrayed her. It was a day of happiness, of celebration. After a few trying weeks, the garage had been given the get go to expand and so the whole family had gone down to the Dog to revel in their success and good fortune.

Despite a shaky start to their business, Roscoe's & sons was fast becoming the best garage in all of Chester, only six months after setting up.

Lindsey also remembered that by the time the sun was setting, they'd all had a few to drink, except Robbie and Jason much to their annoyance, and the night raced by because of this, becoming a big blur.

Around eleven Sandy called it a night, making her way to the house and dragging the twins back kicking and screaming, whilst the others stuck around. After all, they were young and so was the night. In fact they were having such a grand time, that when Jack shut the pub, they decided to head to The Loft instead, not satisfied with their current alcohol-blood levels.

The music was booming and all too soon the four had split up, Joe and Lindsey grinding on the dance floor as Ziggy started chatting up members from a hen party. Freddie though?

Freddie was at the bar, ignoring the interested looks that were sent his way (and there were a lot of them), instead staring into the bottom of a beer bottle and looking like his entire world was ending. And maybe it was.

Seeing her future brother in law looking down, Lindsey did what any brilliant best friend would do, and left Joe with the promise that she'd be back soon, settling herself on the bar stool next to Freddie with a quiet ooft.

"You okay Freds... Fredss... Fredster?" She slurred, only noticing the amused smile he sent her way and not the completely pained and heartbroken look in his eyes.

"Better than you," he laughed, exchanging money for another beer.

"Nonsense. I'm absolutely fantastic," Lindsey declared, almost hitting the guy sitting next to her as she flung her hands out in the air.

"You won't be tomorrow though. My guess is, you'll have a killer headache."

"Shh," Lindsey motioned, placing her index finger onto Freddie's lips, effectively silencing him, though not for the reason she thought. "Just live in the moment yeah, stop being such a Mr. Grumpy Pants."

Freddie pulled away from Lindsey (though to a passerby it looked like it physically pained him to do so) and jumped off the bar stool he had been sat at for the past twenty minutes. "Well, I think I'm going to head home," he told the surprised doctor, before making his way to the stairs and out of the club as quickly as possible.

Lindsey never knew why she followed Freddie. Maybe it was because she was simply being a good friend who could tell when they're closest confidante was extremely upset.

Maybe she was too drunk to realise that going back to her loving fiancée was the best course of action.

Or maybe she could sense what was going to happen. Could feel the electricity that crackled between them every-time they were in the same room, and tonight, when she was full of peach schnapps and lemonade, with a hint of vodka, she subconsciously decided to do something about it. Decided to give Freddie the chance to make his move.

"Wait," she called after him, once she had stumbled out of the club and was weaving down the street. She could see the outline of Freddie in front of her, thanking every God there was when she saw him stop just under the bridge. "Why did you leave?"

"You shouldn't be out here Linds," Freddie replied, ignoring her last comment completely. "There's a lot of dangerous men out here. Who knows what will happen."

"Oh don't be such a drama queen," Lindsey laughed. "Anyway you'll protect me, won't you Freds, you're so big and strong, you'll fight everyone off." Lindsey laughed again, pulling Freddie into a tight hug and sloppily kissing him on the cheek.

As she did so, Freddie stiffened completely, telling himself not to do anything that he shouldn't, though he still enjoyed the moment, pretending for just one second that she was his. And that he was hers.

Unfortunately for him, Lindsey noticed and pulled away, a hurt look clouding her eyes. "You always do that," she said softly, refusing to look at him as she played with the hem of her dress. "Every-time we hug or talk or whatever, you always freeze. Like you wish you could be anywhere else. Do you? Wish you weren't near me that is?"

"What? No, of course not," Freddie exclaimed, horrified that Lindsey could think that. How could anyone ever wish they weren't with her? He couldn't even wrap his head around the concept.

"It's just... just, you do that, and it's like you wish you didn't have to be there, and if that's true just say, because I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable, although it'd suck because you're like my best friend Freddie and I just love you."

Although that statement did sound lucid and more understandable than when Lindsey had been in the club, Freddie knew she was still drunk due to the fact that she had burst into messy and very dramatic tears halfway through her speech.

"I could never think that Linds," Freddie soothed, hoping beyond hope that Lindsey wouldn't remember what he was about to say as he lifted her head so her eyes would meet his.

"You Lindsey Butterfield are amazing. You're so funny, kind and pretty. And sometimes I hate Joe a little bit, because he was the one who met you first. He was the one who you fell in love with and I just wish it was me. So don't you ever think that I can't stand you, because when you talk to me, well it's the best bit of my day."

Lindsey was silent for a moment, her head racing (though that was a bit of an exaggeration, the alcohol had really slowed down her thinking time), and as she worked her way through what Freddie had just declared, said man was stood by her side, growing more and more worried as time passed.

Eventually Lindsey moved, though Freddie would never have foreseen what happened next. He had been expecting a slap, after all she was getting married in two months time and he was the best man for God's sake. Instead, he got a kiss.

And it wasn't just any old kiss, no this was a kiss that people dreamed about. It warmed you through, though you were covered in goosebumps. You forgot the world and your surroundings, but you saw fireworks. You didn't breath, but it was better than the purest of oxygen.

They pulled away far too soon for Freddie's liking, but he was instantly mollified when he saw the dazed look on Lindsey's face. "Wow," she whispered, laughing breathlessly.

"Yeah," Freddie replied, before reality hit. Despite the amazingness of that kiss, he couldn't help but hope that Lindsey wouldn't remember it in the morning. He really didn't want her to feel guilty about it, not when it was his fault. That feeling was only intensified when Lindsey turned away and very nosily threw up in a nearby bush.

Oh dear, he was going to hell.

}}}}}}}}}

When Lindsey woke up the next morning, her head was banging. "I'm getting old," she muttered, regretting it as her own voice only worsened her headache. She tried to cast her mind back, but the night was a blur, hell she didn't even remember how she had gotten home!

Joe was still sleeping next to her, but even his breathing was too loud for her delicate being, and with an almighty push, Lindsey made her way out of bed and staggered to the kitchen, desperate for a paracetamol and a glass of water.

When she made her way there, she realised she wasn't the only one up. Freddie was slumped over the table, looking every bit as hungover as she felt.

"Morning," she croaked, wincing as the glasses clattered when she went to grab one. Even in her hungover state she saw the way Freddie stiffened when he realised that she was there. A pang of... something hit her hard, though she couldn't identify what it was.

"Uh... morning," Freddie said, stumbling over his words and his feet as he tried to make a hasty retreat.

"Woah, what's going on?" Lindsey asked, worried for her friend as a look of extreme guilt fell over his face. She grabbed his arm so he couldn't make an escape and sat him back down on the chair. "Are you okay Freds?"

"You don't remember," he muttered, though it sounded more like he was talking to himself than to her.

"Remember what? What's happ-" As she spoke a wave of images passed through her head and she realised exactly why Freddie had been acting strangely. Freddie's declaration, And then the pair kissing.

"Oh no. No no no no," Lindsey gasped, panicking as she tried to wrap her head around what had happened between the pair of them, whilst simultaneously trying to forget it. "We didn't? We can't have? This can't be happening."

Realising that Lindsey was getting incredibly worked up, Freddie made his way over to her, trying his best to calm her down. "Shh, it's okay."

"How is this okay? I cheated on my fiancée."

"Maybe not so okay then," Freddie wilted under the glare that Lindsey shot his way. "Look it's fine, it didn't mean anything and we were drunk. If we don't say anything no-one will find out."

Lindsey nodded, contemplating what Freddie had said. "I just feel awful lying to Joe, I don't think I can do it."

"Well tell him if you think you have to," Freddie shrugged, hoping that if he acted more casual than he was feeling, Lindsey would be less likely to spill the beans. "Just be prepared for Joe to freak out completely, you know he won't take you being drunk as an excuse."

Lindsey wilted by his side, seeing the truth in his words. Although she loved Joe, she knew that he could be completely unreasonable if angered and this wouldn't certainly set his temper right off. "So what do we do?"

"Like I said, forget it ever happened."

Freddie went to leave, but Lindsey's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "But you won't forget. I don't just remember that kiss, I remember exactly what you said to me."

Freddie's eyes hardened as he realised what Lindsey was implying. "And what would that be?"

"You said that you wished that I was in love with you, instead of Joe. Do you... like me?"

The pair were silent, one waiting for the answer that could and probably would change everything between them whilst the other frantically tried to think of ways to get out of their current situation.

"I... I... yes! I bloody love you okay. Have done for ages in fact and I'm sorry for not saying anything sooner. But I was trying to be a good friend, a good brother. I didn't want anyone noticing, I even tried to distance myself from you in the hopes that I would stop feeling this way. But it just never works and I'm sorry for doing what I did last night I ju- hmmph,"

Freddie was cut off as Lindsey moved forwards, pressing her lips against his. It was a short kiss, nothing more than a peck really, though the spark that had been there the previous night was still there. As one they both shot back, eyes wide..

"Oh my God, I am so sorry!" Lindsey spluttered, unable to believe she had kissed someone who wasn't her fiancée (and his brother at that) twice in the last twenty four hours. "I don't even know what I was thinking. I am so sorry,"

"Shh it's okay," Freddie soothed, hoping that she'd quieten down. The others were all sleeping and they were incredibly lucky that no-one had entered the kitchen, but he had no idea how long that luck would last. "You're probably still drunk and if not, you're sleep deprived and incredibly hungover. Either way, you're not thinking straight. We'll just forget about it, like it never happened."

"But I can't," Lindsey admitted in a small voice. "You do something to me Freds... something that I don't have with Joe. I can't just forget it."

"So what do you want to do?"

}}}}}}}

Although they both knew it was wrong (and that they were probably going to go to hell) Lindsey and Freddie continued with _whatever_ they had. If anyone ever found out they'd both be ruined and a whole family would be broken beyond repair but the pair just can't stop. They simply couldn't deny their attraction to each other, it became impossible the moment they acknowledged it.

They were both wracked with guilt, and knew what it would do to Joe if he ever found out,the last thing they'd ever want to do was hurt anyone, but they need each other like oxygen. It's difficult to sneak off, living under the same roof with five others means that the house is rarely empty, but they do it.

They always manage to sneak out of the house or into one another's bedroom without raising anyone's suspicions. Even if it's just five minutes in a day, their pure passion they share for one another means that Freddie and Lindsey always find a way to spend time with each other.

One on one. They're passionate, more passionate than Lindsey and Joe have ever dreamt of being and Lindsey couldn't help but love it.

But she knows she has to choose and soon. Her wedding was only two weeks away and Freddie had made it clear that he couldn't continue if she married Joe. The ultimatum had been set and the clock was steadily ticking. But she was at a complete loss about what she should do. No matter what she chose, someone would get hurt and if she could prevent that from happening she would, in a heartbeat.

That wasn't an option though and whilst she was still in daily contact with both brothers, Lindsey knew she'd never be able to choose. So she left Chester, telling the Roscoes she's spending the weekend at her sister's to plan the last few details of the wedding, though the look Freddie gave her showed her that he knew better.

He knew that this would be it, it was make or break and as they waved her off from the train station she couldn't stop the single tear that fell down her face. Instead of getting off in London like the Roscoes believed, Lindsey jumped off the train only two stops later, making her way to the small B&B that she'd spend the next few days residing in.

The weekend was a stressful one and she couldn't have gotten more than seven hours of sleep in total. Every waking moment was spent on one thing though.

Joe or Freddie?

Freddie or Joe?

Her heart told her Freddie. Despite only being together (although sneaking off together didn't really count as a healthy solid relationship) for a month and a half, Lindsey could see a real future with him. They connected in ways that she had never done with Joe and she knew they never would. They flourished in each other's company and their chemistry was what people dreamed about.

Her head told her Joe. They were getting married for God's sake! They'd been dating for five years Though if she did decide to stay with Joe, would she really be able to lie to him for the rest of their lives? It would be easier though, she wouldn't be responsible for breaking a whole family apart, splintering it beyond repair until nothing remained.

But she didn't want to choose something because it was easy. This wasn't just her own life she was messing with, no matter what she chose there would be a fallout, but one would just be a lot greater than the other.

At the end of the weekend, Lindsey's mind was made up and she left the B&B with her shoulders high, ready to face the destruction head on. She greeted the family quickly before retiring to her room, feigning fatigue, though really waiting for the right moment and preparing herself.

It didn't take long, though she knew it wouldn't, and less than five minutes after she had arrived at the house, Freddie was stood at the foot of the bed, hands in his pockets trying to appear casual, but the hard set of his shoulders showed Lindsey otherwise. He was terrified.

"So?" he asked, voice cracking on the one worded question.

"I chose you," she said quietly, standing from the bed to meet her lover halfway. "I couldn't not."

"Really?" Freddie asked, looking ecstatic though there was still a trace of fear on his face, like he thought it was all a cruel joke.

"Really," Lindsey smiled, trying to reassure him. "I love Joe, but it's nothing like the love I feel for you. I can't live without you Freddie Roscoe and I don't want to try."

They kissed after her declaration and it's all kind of perfect. As they pulled away from one another, Lindsey's pupils were blown with lust and she was panting lightly.

"We can't," She informed Freddie regretfully as he moved in once more. "Anyone could walk in and I still need to tell Joe."

The younger man nodded, though it looks like it physically pained him to do so. "When?"

"Later tonight. We've got the house to ourselves remember? I need to do it before the wedding and if I do it now then all the stuff can be sent back in plenty of time and we can inform everyone."

"Ahh such a saint," Freddie chuckled before sneaking out of the room, leaving Lindsey to compose herself and get ready to break a completely innocent man's heart.

All too soon the others had left, leaving only the engaged couple in the house. Lindsey made her way down the stairs when she heard Joe calling her, fiddling with her engagement ring that by the end of the night would no longer be on her finger. It was a scary thought, the weight was a familiar thing and she had taken great comfort in it in the past, but she was still adamant that her decision was right.

She didn't want comfort, she didn't want to stay with Joe because he was safe, she needed passion, she needed pure, hot, fiery love. Something that he didn't provide. Though she knew she had to do it, she couldn't help but almost start crying when she saw that Joe had prepared a lovely home-made meal.

"It's your favourite babes," he said, leading her to her seat, seemingly not noticing her discomfort. "And don't worry, Mum hasn't helped, she always murders lasagne."

Lindsey quietly laughed, mainly because it was expected of her more than anything else, but also because she knew this would be the last night she'd spend with Joe like this for a long time.

Maybe forever if they couldn't even salvage a friendship out of the tatters of the relationship. She began delicately eating the lovingly made meal, but found she couldn't stomach more than a couple of mouthfuls, the knowledge of what she was going to do next making her feel sick to the bone.

"You okay Linds?" Joe asked after a few minutes, noticing her lack of appetite.

"I'm fine," she snapped, wincing as she saw the hurt look on her soon to be ex-fiancé's face. They sat in silence for a few more moments, Joe looking like he wanted nothing more than to ask what was up, though he was still fearing of Lindsey's acid tongue. Finally Lindsey broke, she couldn't do this anymore and she stood, grabbing Joe's attention. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" A bemused Joe asked.

"I can't do this," she said softly, taking the engagement ring off her finger and placing it onto the kitchen table. She looked away from the ring, glittering forlornly under the lights, her heart breaking once more as she saw the absolutely devastated look on Joe's face.

"What – what are you doing?"

"I can't marry you Joe. I'm so sorry."

"But... but why?" Joe asked, at a complete loss to the breakdown of his relationship. "Why are you doing this? Is this a joke?"

"No, it isn't. I wish to God it was, but this relationship just isn't working for me anymore."

"It isn't? Because this is the first time I've heard this, in fact I thought we were doing better than ever." Joe spluttered, though he silenced suddenly as a mixed look of realisation and anger crossed his face. "Is there someone else?"

"What?" Lindsey asked, completely shocked that Joe would guess it so suddenly. "Why do you say that?"

"Because it's the only thing that makes sense. We don't have any problems, not that I know about anyway, so to say that our 'problems' is the reason you want to end this relationship is complete bull Linds and you know it,"

"I am so sorry," Lindsey whispered, a lone tear making it's way down her face. "I am so sorry."

"So who is it? Is it someone I know?" Joe demanded and Lindsey knew she had to tell him the truth. She couldn't lie to him anymore, so taking a deep breath, she wiped the tear away and looked straight at Joe.

"Freddie. It's Freddie."

"My brother? You've been fooling around with my younger brother?" Joe shouted, unable to contain his rage.

"We're not fooling around," Lindsey shouted back, too lost in the argument to stay logical. "We love each other!"

"Right," Joe spat. "Just get out Lindsey. I hope you two will be very happy together." The young doctor didn't move for a moment, shocked that Joe wasn't doing anything else though she realised he was breathing heavily and visibly trying to keep control of his actions.

Freddie would be at the brunt of Joe's anger when he decided to release it and it was definitely going to be a messy affair when the two brothers ran into each other. "I said GET OUT! AND DON'T COME BACK," Joe yelled, startling Lindsey, who ran through the living room and into the street outside.

Slowly the situation began hitting home and loud, angry sobs made their way through her body. She knew Joe wouldn't react well to the breakdown of his relationship (who would), but to actually throw her out? She didn't have anywhere to go, all her family were hundreds of miles away and Freddie would soon be in a similar situation no doubt.

There was only one person who could fix this and that was Freddie. Turning and running in the direction of the Dog (they had agreed to meet at the pub earlier that day), Lindsey didn't slow down until the familiar building was in sight, but even then she kept up a light jog, too determined to reach Freddie to take note of her appearance.

Dozens of concerned looks were sent her way as people saw the tear stained mascara smudged around her face and her messy hair which was sticking up in every way known to man, due to her having run her hands through it constantly.

She pushed open the pub door, freezing when she saw not only Freddie at the bar, but Ziggy, Robbie, Jason and worst of all Sandy. She loved her once to be mother in law, she really did, but Sandy had a fiery temper at the best of times and was fiercely loyal to her family.

If she learnt (and it was looking incredibly likely that she would), that Lindsey had been sleeping with someone behind Joe's back, well they might never find her body. Never mind the fact that she had been sleeping with Freddie. Though that probably made the whole situation worse.

"Oh my God Lindsey," Sandy gasped, taking in her shodden appearance and leading her to seat. "What the hell's happened? Where's Joe? Is he okay?"

Lindsey moaned softly, leaning into Freddie who had sat down on her other side. She didn't have the strength to completely ruin a family, not tonight of all nights, but the comforting squeeze Freddie gave her and the small smile too at least gave her the courage to meet Sandy's eye.

"Me and Joe," she begun softly, wanting nothing more than to look away from the older woman, but not being able. "We... er we've broken up."

"What?" Sandy gasped, pulling Lindsey into a hug. "What's happened? Isn't there anything you could do? Surely you two should be talking things through not sitting at opposite ends of the village."

"Uh yeah... that's the other thing," Lindsey muttered. "He kind of kicked me out." Sandy looked ready to march back to the house and demand answers from her eldest right then and there, but Lindsey stopped her. She had to do this, she had to tell the family herself, it was her fault for causing this pain, she had to own up to it.

A gentle squeeze on her thigh reminded her the Freddie was sat next to her, supporting her along the way and reminding her that he was there for, ready to take his portion of the blame.

"It's my fault Sandy, and you're going to side with Joe on this, hell you might help him pack." Before she could continue, Freddie leaned forward, successfully interrupting her.

"Me and Lindsey love each other. We've been in a relationship for the past few months and we couldn't keep up with the deceit anymore. It wasn't fair," he blurted, successfully silencing everyone, though Lindsey didn't even look to see how they were reacting, staring in wonder at Freddie.

Once he had spoken, he sagged back down, like the confession had taken all the strength out of him, though he kept his arm around Lindsey's. At that moment she loved him more than ever, he could have easily sat back and watched the carnage unfold as Lindsey tried to explain what happened, but he had jumped right in there and told his family the hardest thing he had ever done.

"Mum? Say something." Freddie pleaded and Lindsey made herself turn away, though she squeezed Freddie's hand, knowing it was the best thing she could do at the moment.

"You're going to have to give me a second," she said, and although her words were quiet, her tone was hard and Lindsey couldn't stop the fear rising to her chest.

"Wait, so you's have been sleeping together," Robbie said, sharing a shocked look with Jason.

At her son's comment, Sandy tore her eyes away from Freddie to look at her three youngest. "Can you three go to the house, make sure Joe's okay."

"But-"

"Now," she demanded and Ziggy, Robbie and Jason shuffled out, looking over their shoulders every so often to see if anything had happened. When the pub door closed behind them, Sandy turned back to the two lovers, still obviously reeling from the recent declaration. "Now you're going to tell me everything."

And so they did, from their first drunken kiss under the bridge, to the first time they admitted that they loved each other, to Lindsey spending the weekend away, desperately trying to make her mind up about which brother she'd stay with.

After it had all poured out Sandy sat in silence, trying to get all the information sorted in her head. "I can't believe you would do that to your brother Freddie, and to your fiancée Lindsey. You're meant to love him, not hurt and beat him down like you've done."

At this both Lindsey and Freddie wilted, knowing that what she said was true, not that it made it any easier to accept. "But I get what it's like to be in love. You can't help who you fall for and if our parents had anything to do with, me and my Alan would have been mortal enemies from day one.

"It's going to be difficult and I certainly do not approve of your actions, but you'll both have to properly talk to Joe about this. I'm guessing you didn't tell him what you told me Lindsey? I'm not saying it will be all sunshine and rainbows, but Joe deserves, more than anyone else, to get the full story."

"Course mum," Freddie said softly, nodding frantically. Lindsey knew he'd been dreading telling the rest of the family, lest they all turn their backs on him, but Sandy's current reaction had lifted a huge weight off both of their shoulders.

"I'd suggest going to a hotel or a friend's for the night though, this is going to be difficult anyway, but with everyone living under the same roof it doesn't help." The couple nodded, and Sandy grabbed her bag, ready to go. "Come over tomorrow though, the sooner you talk to Joe the better."

She shot them a small smile before leaving and once she was out of sight Freddie deflated even further.

"Well that could have gone worse."

"We'll be fine, as long as we have each other." Lindsey soothed, kissing him gently. "Now come on, lets go find a B&B." She stood up, dragging Freddie with her, their hands tightly entwined as they moved to the door.

As they made their way through the village they felt closer than ever before. They had no idea what the future held for them, no idea if Joe would ever speak to either of them again, but as long as they had each they knew they would be okay.

_And they all live happily ever after! ;) _

_I loved writing for this couple, I seriously ship them so hard on the show, but I had to end it somewhere (one of the worst things about writing oneshots). I obviously left a lot of questions unanswered but I think it was the best way to leave it, otherwise it just becomes too long and heavy. If this was a full fic, then I'd have obviously gone into Joe's reaction and more, but it wasn't so I'll leave it up to you guys. And if you do want more Frindsey then feel free to ask and I'll see what I can come up with, maybe it'll even be a cheerier one than this one was. _

_Next Story – Something Old, Something New – To one Roscoe couple to another. It's Lindsey and Joe's wedding day, but will it all go off without a hitch? - prompted by reallyme_


	17. Something Old, Something New

_Something Old, Something New _

_This chapter was prompted by Reallyme and the prompt was _**Lindsey and Joe's wedding day**.

_I hope you all enjoy it! _

Lindsey couldn't believe it. After all the planning, all the tears and all the stress, it was finally here! Today was the day she was getting married, to the best man in the whole entire world, her soul mate, Joe Roscoe.

It had been a long engagement unfortunately, almost eighteen months total, but the wait was worth it. They'd been planning on tying the knot months before hand, but the sudden and hasty move to Hollyoaks Village six months before made it difficult. All prior plans had gone up in smoke and they'd had to start practically from scratch once more.

But they'd done it, they'd found a lovely church which was mere minutes away from the village and Jason had even persuaded Doug from the Deli to help with the catering. But as the weeks passed and the date loomed ever closer, Lindsey couldn't help her nerves from growing.

It wasn't that she didn't want to marry Joe, it was never that, it was just, she wanted the day to be perfect, and everytime she closed her eyes a new scenario flashed in front of her eyes, showing her what could go wrong.  
Her dress could be the wrong size.

The food could be off.

The church roof could leak.

No-one turned up.

Someone protested halfway through their vows.

Endless scenes wormed their way into her mind and Lindsey hated to admit it, but she became a _slight _bridezilla. Okay the slight was a bit of an understatement, only Joe and Sandy could stand to be with her one-on-one lest she snap, both doing their best to calm her as much as possible.

Just yesterday, one day before the wedding she had been unbearable to be around, constantly checking on her dress to make sure it was perfect, calling Doug to make sure he was on task and fretting about the state of the church.

Everyone had been relieved when her parents and younger sister; Charlotte had turned up mid-afternoon to drag her to the hotel and go through last minute plans.

"Knock knock," said sister called through the hotel door, smiling brightly when Lindsey opened the door and dragged her into the hotel room.

The Butterfield sisters looked incredibly similar and it was obvious they were related, having inherited their Dad's warm brown eyes and with the same long dark brown locks they were practically one of the same. "How's the bride to be?"

"Stressed," Lindsey moaned, running a hand through her hair as she sat on the stool next to the small vanity.

"Well don't be," Charlotte snarked, grabbing a brush and gently combing it through Lindsey's hair. It had been agreed that the younger Butterfield would do Lindsey's make-up and hair for the wedding, as she had not so long ago completed a beauty therapy course and was even planning on setting up her own business in the coming months.

"But what-"

"Eh! What did I just say?"

"Don't stress," Lindsey grumbled as she felt her sister lightly tugging at strands of her hair as she began clipping it up.

"Good, you're learning. Everything is sorted, your dress is gorgeous, the cute deli guy did the majority of the food yesterday and is putting the finishing touches on it as we speak-"

"You know he's gay," Lindsey interrupted, arching an eyebrow.

"Meh, no harm in looking. Anyway, back to the subject, the church is looking great you'll love it and Mum's even got Dad to wear his good tie."

"But what if no-one's there? What if they get lost or the trains delayed or-"

"Breath Linds!" Charlotte demanded, whirling around to look straight at her sister. "Just breathe okay. Everyone will be there, no-one's going to get lost and no-one's going to be late. Tash checked out the church yesterday and she's giving directions and helping people who will be more likely to get lost, Uncle Dan for example.

"And nearly everyone came up yesterday, they've completely booked out Premier Inn so they could be here for you on your special day _on time_. The bridesmaids are going to be here in a few hours for cheeky pre-drinks and to get to the church. Everything is going to be perfect so don't worry your pretty little head."

"Okay," Lindsey nodded, feeling slightly comforted by her younger sister's words.  
"Good, now shut up and let me do your hair, otherwise _you'll _be the late one."

}}}}}}}}}}

He couldn't believe it. The day he had been dreaming of had arrived and Joe was finally getting married. Even thinking of it had him smiling like a goon, something which all his brothers were taking the mick out of with great delight.

"Oi, where's my tie?" Robbie yelled, breaking the silence through the house as he noisily began searching.

"Don't tell me you've lost it?" Sandy demanded, jogging down the stairs, hair still in curlers and make-up unfinished.

"It were here last night!"

"I told you to put it in your room so this wouldn't happen," Sandy sighed, helping her son searching as the others all descended to watch the chaos.

"We'll find it ma," Ziggy said after a minute, trying not laugh at her look of despair when Robbie began carelessly chucking cushions around the room. "You go and get ready."

Sandy shot Robbie one final look, obviously weighing up the two situations in her head, before she turned and made her way back up the stairs. "You make sure he cleans this mess up."

Trying not to laugh at his family's dramatics, Joe entered the living room and began helping with the search. "Found it!" Freddie cried from the kitchen where the tie was harmlessly lying on the top of the cupboards. Joe didn't even want to know how it got there.

"Cheers," Robbie said, grabbing the tie and clumsily tying it, shooting a mock glare when Joe told him to start tidying.

"I'll help," Jason offered begrudgingly, grabbing a cushion and putting back to it's original place. Joe smiled as he went back to his room, making sure that everything would be packed for the honeymoon (nothing special but they were going to Cannes for a long weekend) and that he hadn't lost the speech for the reception.

He read over it once more, his smile only growing as he imagined reading it out to not only his family but Lindsey's too, as his beautiful soon to be wife sat by his side. He had been waiting for this day for years and couldn't believe it had already arrived.

He had known that he was going to ask Lindsey to marry him after only a handful dates, their connection already incredibly deep and special, though when he actually did ask after a year and a half together, he couldn't believe that she'd said yes.

But she had and since then they'd only grown stronger as a couple, and today was the day they'd be showing the rest of the world how strong their love for one another actually was.

"Joe, the cars are here," Ziggy called and Joe took a deep breath, steadying his sudden nerves as he grabbed his suit jacket and straightened his tie, descending the stairs on shaky legs.

The others were all seated in the living room, waiting for the groom and when he arrived they stood as one. "You look very handsome," Sandy said, hugging him tightly as she tried not to cry, lest she ruin her make-up. "Your Dad would be so proud of you love."

"Thanks mum," Joe replied, appreciating her kind words. His Dad's approval had always been the most important thing to him when he'd been growing up and although he knew that he would, Joe couldn't help but wonder if he would have liked Lindsey. "We ready?"

The others nodded and made their way to the two cars that were waiting out the front, before being drove to the church.

It wasn't a long journey and they arrived at the church in minutes. As one, the family made their way to the building. Joe had visited the church before, but it was even more beautiful inside than he remembered.

The sun was shining through the stained glass windows, painting the floor and walls in a variety of different colours and the simple decorations that had been placed around the large building, added a splash of colour to the whole area.

He made his way to the front of the church with Freddie who had been appointed best man, whilst his other brothers stood by the entrance, leading guests to their seats and being the perfect hosts, a welcome surprise.

"You nervous bro?" Freddie asked as they waited for the church to fill up.

"No, this... it feels right. Like I'm meant to be here and it's what my life's been leading up to, you get me?"

"No, not really," his younger brother replied slowly, raising his eyebrows.

"One day you'll meet your perfect girl Freds, then you'll know exactly what I'm talking about," Joe promised his younger brother, though they were interrupted by the traditional wedding march playing and echoing through the now full church.

Joe had chosen Ziggy, Robbie and Jason to be his grooms-men and they walked down the aisle one-by-one with a bridesmaid attached to their side, before being followed by Charlotte who shot a wide smile to Joe as she moved to the side.

She revealed his young cousin Shelly who was scattering flowers on the floor as she tottered forward, Lindsey's nephew Scott was walking next to her, with the pure determination that only a seven year old could manage, looking incredibly cute in his mini three-piece suit, ring box held firmly in his hands.

Once the two young children had found their seats there was a slight pause before Lindsey fully entered the church, arm wrapped around her Dad's as they slowly walked down the aisle.

It took all of Joe's self-restraint not to go and meet his partner halfway there, and he was pretty sure he would have done, if Freddie hadn't nudged him, reminding him of his presence, and that running down the alter during _his _own service wasn't exactly proper.

It was just... she looked so beautiful. Charlotte had done a good job, Lindsey's make-up was subtle but highlighted her face well and her hair was pinned up, though a few wisps had been allowed to escape and were framing her face.

It wasn't just that, her dress was gorgeous and Joe was glad he hadn't seen it before now, because although it was absolutely stunning, Lindsey_ made_ that dress, plain and simple. Although she could probably wear a bin bag and still be the prettiest girl on earth.

When she got to the head of the church, she shot Joe a nervous smile, though he could do little but stare, struck dumb by the pure beauty of his love.

The vows were quick and painless, though Joe could never tell anyone what he had recited, because his whole mind was focused on Lindsey, who's hands hadn't stopped slightly shaking throughout the whole ceremony.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride," the vicar said, and Joe couldn't stop smiling, pulling his _wife_ close and sharing a passionate kiss, the clapping and cheers of the friends and family surrounding them.

As the newly married couple left the church they couldn't stop the laughter of relief and pure happiness that escaped them. They had done it, they were actually married!

Their laughter didn't stop as they climbed into the car that would lead them to the reception hall, waving eagerly to their loved ones as it crawled down the lane, ready to start the next chapter of their life.

Together.

_Safe to say this was a much cheerier one than some of my previous chapters. _

_Thank you all for the lovely reviews, they mean the absolute world to me! As always tell me your thoughts on this chapter, they're greatly appreciated, maybe with a prompt of your own? _

_Next Story – After selling a dodgy drug to someone, Freddie stops working for Trevor, leaving his boss fuming. Trevor's determined to get his revenge, but which of the Roscoes will he target? - prompted by Reallyme_


	18. Revenge is a dish best served cold

_Revenge is a dish best served cold_

_This story was requested by Reallyme and the prompt was __**After selling a dodgy drug to someone, Freddie stops working for Trevor, leaving his boss fuming. Trevor's determined to get his revenge, but which of the Roscoes will he target?**_

_Hope you all enjoy! _

"There you go kid. That'll keep you going for the whole night," Freddie muttered, passing over a small packet, two white pills rolling at bottom of the clear pack. The teenager (for that was what he was, he looked the same age as Jason and Robbie, far too young to be taking this sort of stuff anyway), eagerly grabbed the packet, placing a crumpled note in Freddie's now empty hand.

"Cheers mate," the boy said, sauntering down the alley and turning out of sight within minutes. Freddie sighed, counting over the money as he pulled his hood further over his head, before also leaving the dank place, though going in the opposite direction as the teenager.

The rest of the night was a slow one, yet Freddie managed to pocket a further £70 over the next few hours. By three am he decided to call it a night, no-one else would be buying gear at this point, either calling it a night themselves or having bought it hours previous from other dealers.

Trevor wouldn't like such little money but he'd just have to suck it when Freddie came over the next day. There was little he could do about it, he didn't control people and he'd just try again on another night, Saturdays were always busy anyway.

He had found himself at the outskirts of the village, but it was a quiet night and the temperate was surprisingly warm so Freddie felt no rush to return home. Instead of ducking and diving through the usual shortcuts, he went past the main roads and estates, enjoying the cool breeze and absolute stillness that surrounded him.

The rare tranquillity was destroyed by an ear shattering scream that filled the air. Freddie paused, and by simple pure instinct, he turned and ran to the cries for help, not sure what he could do exactly, hell he didn't even know what he'd be getting himself into, but determined to do something to quell the screams.

He entered a small housing estate and swiftly located to where the problem was. The smallest and by far crappiest house there, had obviously been holding a party, but a handful of people had poured into the garden where one guy was lying motionless on the grass.

"Wake up Eric!" a blonde girl was screaming and Freddie recognised her screams from earlier as she shook the boy. Knowing that he needed to do something, Freddie ran up to the garden.

"What's happened? Has someone called 999?" He stopped in his tracks when he saw the boy. It was the same guy from earlier that night and his blood froze.

"He took something dodgy," another girl answered, moving to the blonde and pulling her away from the still lad. "There were tons of people doing things, but he just went really weird. The ambulance is on it's way now." Freddie stopped listening after that, watching the boy who _he _had sold the dodgy gear to lay absolutely still, his breath short and shallow. This was his fault, if he hadn't sold the damn stuff then this would never have happened.

Fortunately the ambulance didn't take long and within minutes it had torn down the estate, the paramedics loading the boy into the ambulance and quickly driving off again, sirens wailing long after it had disappeared from view.

The blonde girl was still hysterical and Freddie saw her make her way to a car, keys in her shaking hands. "Woah, what the hell are you doing?" he asked, blocking her path.

"I have to go with him. He's my boyfriend, I need to be there." she cried, trying to push past, but with little effect.

"And you're in no state to drive, you're drunk and upset," Freddie soothed, though an idea quickly struck. He needed to get to that hospital too, he needed to make sure that the young lad would be okay, needed to see it for himself. "I'll drive, I haven't touched a drop all night. You look like you need the support anyway."

The girl looked unsure though she shakily nodded after a few seconds, placing her keys into Freddie's hand before getting into the passenger side. He took a deep breath before getting into the car himself, placing the key into the ignition and driving down the lane, no regards for any speeding limits, making it to the hospital in record timing.

They were directed to the waiting room, both sitting in absolute silence for the first half hour, unsure of what to say. "You can go you know," the girl finally said. "I don't need a babysitter."

"I want to stay," Freddie told her, and it was true. He needed to see that the boy was okay, to ease his conscience slightly.

"Okay." The girl nodded. And then she started talking. She told him that he was nineteen (only two years older than the twins for God's sake, far too young for this to be happening to him) and that they had met at university.

They'd been going out for three months and next week, he was going to Newcastle with her, to meet her parents for the first time. As she was telling Freddie about her boyfriend, he didn't say a single word, letting her talk and to wrap things round in her head.

She didn't stop for close to an hour and the only reason she did was because a doctor interrupted them. "We've contacted Eric's family, though none of them can make it down here till later on today at the earliest. They did however give permission for us to update you on what's happening."  
The blonde stiffened next to Freddie. "Is he okay? Can I see him?"

"The sheer amount of drugs and alcohol in Eric's system meant he had an accidental overdose last night. It wouldn't have been too extreme, but the pills he took seemed to have been faulty in a way, and it severely affected his internal organs."  
"But he's okay?" the girl asked again, voice shaking.  
"I'm so sorry, but Eric unfortunately passed away. There was nothing we could do." Freddie couldn't hear the rest of what the doctor was saying, the combination of the girl's screaming and the blood thumping through his head meant it was practically impossible.

Dead? But he couldn't be. This was _his_ fault. The doctor had even said it, if the pills hadn't been part of a bad batch then Eric might have been saved.

The rest of the morning was a blur and Freddie spent it in a complete daze. The pair (himself and Eric's girlfriend that is) spent some more time in the hospital, trying to wrap their heads around what had happened, before Freddie drove the heartbroken girl back to her flat.

He parked the car, gave her the keys and made his way back to his house, unaware of his surroundings, trying to fight the suffocating guilt that had taken over him. His fault. It was all his fault. He wasn't sure of what to do next when he got home, though he quickly retreated to his room, when he saw both Sandy and Ziggy lounging around.

He shut the bedroom door and sat numbly on his bed, unsure of what to do next. Though there was one thing he knew he had to do, for the sake of his sanity more than anything else. He needed to stop working for Trevor, consequences be damned.

He never saw the blonde girl again, hell he never even learnt her name. It was something that Freddie was eternally grateful for, maybe that means he can at least forget about her, about the extra life he ruined that night.

}}}}}}

Only a few hours later Freddie found himself loitering outside Trevor's club, the images of last night flicking through his head at lightening speed, not giving him any relief. As he walked through the door, he stifled a yawn, purely running on a mix of coffee and latent adrenaline. He'd tried to sleep, but everytime he shut his eyes the pictures were back, worse than ever.

"Late night Freds?" Trevor called, sauntering to his unwilling employee. They were the only two there, though that wasn't unusual. "I hope that means a lot of money."

"Quiet night," Freddie snapped, chucking the small number of notes at the older man. "In fact I was at hospital for most of the time, because some of those pills you gave me were fucked."

"Hope the kid's okay," Trevor said smoothly, not sounding concerned in the slightest.

"He died!" Freddie shouted, hoping to shock Trevor into action, though he wasn't surprised when all he did was arch an eyebrow, looking completely unimpressed as he leant on the bar. "He was 19, and he's dead because I gave him some weird gear. I practically killed the boy. I can't do this anymore Trev, do what ever you want to do to me, but I'm not killing anyone, not again."

"Bit late for a conscience now hey Freds?" Trevor asked, moving away from the bar and right into Freddie's personal space. "You've ruined so many lives already and are responsible for so many deaths. You've threatened people, beathen 'em up, buried bodies, I think some dodgy drugs is a bit minor in comparison."

"I don't care, I'm not doing this anymore. This is the final straw, I'm out."

"Well you better start keeping one eye open when you're sleeping. I really don't take kindly to cowards."

"I'm not reporting you to the police if that's what you're worried about."

"Oh I'm not. You may be a coward Freddie, but you're not stupid." The pair were silent for a minute, but with every passing second, Freddie's nerves only grew.

Trevor was taking this... surprisingly well and it unnerved him. The other man obviously had something big planned because the young Roscoe had predicated that he'd at best be limping out of the club and worst? Well he'd have been joining DC Trent.

Deciding to get out whilst he could, Freddie backed away to the door (he wasn't stupid to turn away from Trevor), but before he could slip out of the bar the older man spoke up. "I'm serious Fred's. You better be watching for me at all times, because I'm not letting you out of my sight till I get even."

}}}}}}}}}}

Freddie Roscoe was going to pay. No-one stepped away from Trevor Royle, not willingly anyway. He was not someone you could walk away from, not if you didn't want to suffer from the consequences anyway.

He wasn't going to go after Freddie though, no that was expected and Trevor hated being predictable. Instead he'd show the whole family just what Freddie had got himself into. Freddie wasn't going to suffer for this first hand, one of his brothers would.

When Freddie had first found himself on Trevor's radar he made sure to do a check on his whole family (after all, you'd never know when that sort of information would be needed) and he had plenty of information on them all.

He couldn't go after the two older brothers (Joe and Ziggy he reminded himself). They were both bulky and taking them would be a lot of unnecessary hassle. Also, as both of them were legal adults, there was less chance of the family being as worried if they weren't seen for a few days, and Trevor really wanted to create as much panic as he could, as fast as he could.

That left the twins. Robbie and Jason. They'd be easier to take and if they didn't come home without prior word, then panic would be instantly caused. _Fantastic. _It was instantly obvious who he was going to make _pay_ for Freddie's insolence, Jason.

He could get closer to the boy, Robbie knew what he looked like from a few brief meetings and if his plan was to work then they'd have to be face to face for a bit. He'd had some of his people check out the family too, their usual haunts and basic schedule mainly(just like he'd done with everyone that's ever worked for him, far too many people have tried to double cross him in the past, and Trevor liked his revenge to be... messy), but it meant he knew the best places to try and catch Jason out.

That was how he found himself in the alley between the Roscoe's and their crappy garage the very next day. Jason always passed through there around midday on the Saturday, helping his brothers out in the morning before going to get changed for his shift at the deli.

At half twelve exactly he wandered down, headphones firmly in and blaring whatever trashy song was in the charts into his ears. He didn't even look at Trevor as he passed, but before he had gone to far, Trevor slammed him into the wall, smiling sadistically as Jason cried out in shock and pain.

"Has no-one ever told you to respect your elders kid," he hissed, ripping the headphones out. "A simple hello would have sufficed."  
"What the hell?" Jason yelped, trying desperately to get away. "You're off your bleeding head mate."

"And this is what I was talking about with the respect. Kids these days, didn't your mummy teach you any manners? Seems you're as bad as Freddie."

Jason instantly stilled, the worry obvious on his face. "What about Freddie? What have you done to him?"  
"Oh nothing yet kid. But you see, he's crossed me and I don't take kindly to that, which is where you come in." Before Jason could say anything else, Trevor slammed him against the wall once more, his head cracking loudly on the brickwork. The teen instantly slumped, falling into unconsciousness.

Before Trevor did anything else, he grabbed the boy's phone from his hoody pocket and text the Deli owner, telling him that 'Jason' was too ill to go in to work. Once that was done he easily picked the boy up, taking him to the van mere metres away.

}}}}}}}}}

"You okay Freddie?" Joe asked, as he caught his younger brother staring into space for the third time that day.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Freddie replied easily, turning back to the car he was working on. Truthfully he was anything but, the threats from Trevor were running through his head and with every passing day his nerves were growing shorter and shorter.

His phone started ringing, shocking him out of his thoughts, though he stilled when he saw the caller id, flashing on the screen.

_Trevor_

He rushed out of the garage, ignoring his family's shouts, only answering when he was confident he wouldn't be overheard. "What do you want?" He snapped, trying to sound braver than he was feeling.

"Now that's no way to speak to an old friend, especially when I'm in the mood I'm in." Trevor taunted in a singsong voice. "Someone may just get hurt." There was a cry of pain in the background and Freddie's blood turned to ice.

"What have you done? Who's that?" But Freddie knew there was only a small number of people that it could be and none of the options are good. "Trevor! What have you done?" The only answer was the dialling tone and Freddie realised that his former boss had hung up on him.

Before he could call him back, a picture message appeared, and when he saw it, Freddie was almost sick. It was Jason, his Jason, bloodied and beaten to a pulp. Although his brother's eyes were on the camera, they were unfocused and a trail of blood was running down his face.

Another message appeared moments later.

_This is what happens you turn your back on me._

This couldn't be happening. Trevor couldn't have gotten Jason, he couldn't have. Why couldn't he have done the predictable thing and gone after him? That answered Freddie's question though, Trevor liked to keep people on edge, and he was certainly good at it.

He needed to get to the club now, sort out this whole sorry mess before it was too late, but before he could turn and leave, Joe cornered him.

"You better not be skiving mate. You've got Ms. Reed's brakepads to finish up."

"You don't understand Joe, I need-"

"I don't want to hear it. You've been acting weird for weeks now and me and Zig need you helping out today, we're dead busy." Freddie knew he couldn't argue, Jason was already involved in this whole mess because of him, he wouldn't let the others get hurt too.

Praying that his younger brother would forgive him, Freddie trailed after Joe, thinking up a plan to rescue Jason throughout the whole of the shift, the image of his beaten body never leaving his mind.

}}}}}}}}}}

Unfortunately the shift was a long one and the three brothers were still slaving away as the sun began setting. In fact, they were so behind schedule that the office phone began ringing, the caller id revealing that Sandy was growing concerned.

"Almost finished ma," Joe said, answering on the third ring. "Be bout another ten minutes I reckon... yeah we've been busy... oh, don't worry, we can always order takeout... no I ain't seen Jason since this morning."

Freddie stiffened at the mention of his brother's name. "Actually," he said, catching Joe's attention. "I think Jase said something about staying at a mate's, they've got a big project or something."

"You hear that mum?" Joe asked, reciting what he had been told down the phone, but Freddie wasn't listening, the guilt that he had been feeling for abandoning Jason doubling as he lied about his whereabouts.

But he could fix this, he had to. Tearing out of the garage, Freddie jumped into his car and sped out of the driveway, ignoring Joe and Ziggy's calls of annoyance. Normally the drive to Trevor's club took a good twenty minutes, but in his desperate need to reach Jason, it only took ten and Freddie ran into the bar with no warning, though Trevor didn't seem surprised by the lack of notice.

"Ahh Freddie," he said, nodding his head to the younger man, never taking his eyes off a huge pile of notes that he wascounting steadily. "You took longer than I thought you would, a bit disappointing really."

"Let Jason go."

"Is that it?" Trevor asked, clearly amused by Freddie's plea. "No dramatic speech. No threatening. No pleading. No? Just those three words. You know, I thought you had a bit more... spunk!"

"I'll do anything just let him go. I'll swap places, you can hurt me as much as you want, just don't hurt him anymore. He's got nothing to do with this, he's harmless."

"See I could do that, but I'd rather not. You'd never learn your lesson that way." Trevor said, standing and motioning to one of his goons who were stood at the back. The man disappeared, reappearing moments later with a bloodied and beaten Jason, unceremoniously throwing him onto the floor by Trevor and Freddie's feet.

"Oh my God," Freddie retched, horrified by Jason's state. One side of his face was incredibly bruised, blood was matting his hair and there were splatters of blood all over his clothes, though Freddie couldn't tell if it was from the head wound or from other cuts that were hidden from sight.

"Freds?" Jason groaned weakly, noticing his brother. "Freds, you have to get out-"

He was interrupted by a harsh kick to the ribs from Trevor, falling back to the floor in a small heap. "Like I said Freds, no-one gets away with backing down and I rather like my new plaything." As Jason tried to move away once more, Trevor stomped heavily on his hand, the crack of breaking bone only hidden by the tormented scream of Jason, as pain rushed through him.

Freddie tried to launch forward, to tackle Trevor to the ground and beat him senseless, to protect his brother as well as he could, but before he could move, he was grabbed on either side by two more of Trevor's men, where they then proceeded to drag him out of the club, pushing him onto the pavement.

He got to his feet in a moment, but the door was already slammed shut and after five minutes of screaming and kicking on the door, Freddie had to admit defeat. He had to think up another plan and now. For Jason's sake.

}}}}}}}}}

The whole journey back home was spent thinking, but Freddie only came up with one definite, and that was that he needed to get someone else involved. He couldn't do this on his own, he couldn't rescue Jason on his own.

There was only one person he could go to. Sure, he'd judge Freddie, but he was the best person and he'd help out in the best way possible.

"Joe," he said, entering his older brother's bedroom, said brother looking up in surprise when he saw the worried state of Freddie. "I've done something really stupid."

And so he talked. Told him all about being roped in to Trevor's gang, the selling of drugs, Eric's death after the dodgy pill, how he tried to leave and then how Trevor got hold of Jason and was keeping him captive.

"I really need your help Joe."

The older Roscoe sighed, trying to take in the information that he had just been given. "You've really pushed it this time Freds. I don't know if we can move past this, I mean-"

"Look I know what I've done Joe. And have a go at me all you want, just not now. Because I need to get Jason out of there and I _really_ need your help."

Sighing again, Joe pushed back the anger that he was feeling, trying to keep a cool head and assess the situation properly. "Well I think there's only one thing we can do."

}}}}}}}}

"The fire exit's just down there," Freddie said, pointing down the alleyway. "It leads to the end of the building and Jason should be in one of the back rooms. You get-"

"I get him out of there as soon as I find him, whilst you distract Trevor. I got it bruv," Joe interrupted, rolling his eyes before making his way down the alley way. Freddie watched his brother leave, taking a deep breath as he started banging on the door.  
"Trevor!" He shouted, still punching the wooden door. "Trevor! I know you're in there. Let me in you scum!" The door swung open suddenly and Freddie lowered his fist, glaring furiously at the man in front of him.

"Now is that anyway to talk to an old friend Fred?" Trevor asked, grinning widely.

"Shut up," the mechanic spat, pushing past Trevor and into the main area of the deserted club. "What have you done to Jason?"

"Nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about," Trevor crowed, sauntering back into the bar, seemingly not concerned by Freddie's dramatics, though the dangerous glint in his eye told otherwise.

"I swear to God-"

"You'll what? Get me? Please, I'm quaking in my boots. You just can't accept that this is all your fault, little baby Jason is in desperate need of a hospital because of you."

Before Freddie could react (and boy did he want to), the back door of the bar was swung open, successfully stopping him.

"Found this scum lurking about," one of Trevor's men reported, dragging a struggling Joe behind him. "Seems like they were planning a rescue for the younger one."

At that, another man came in, throwing a barely conscious Jason onto the floor. Trevor turned back to Freddie, the glint lighting like a fire and the amused expression had completely disappeared. "Ah I see what's going on now. You were trying to distract me, whilst you rescued poor little Jason from behind my back."

Freddie remained silent, sharing a desperate look with Joe, who only continued struggling. "Now I don't take kindly to cowardice, but this, well this just takes the biscuit." Trevor continued. "See before I was going to let the kid go, maybe even drop him off at the local hospital if I was in a generous mood, but you've really gone too far now."

As he spoke, Trevor pulled a gun from his inside pocket, pointing it at Jason. "Now you're going to watch me pump a bullet in his brain and then in your other brother's too. You'll watch as they bleed out onto the floor, their life draining out of them. And then, then I'll kill you too, but not before you watch me kill every single member of your worthless family."

"No, I won't let you," Freddie screamed, trying to reach Trevor and stop him, but once again he was stopped by one of the faceless cronies that crawled the place.

"Say bye bye to baby Jason," Trevor mocked, getting ready to turn the safety off. But before he could, both doors were kicked open and a barrage of police entered the place, completely surrounding everyone.

The next few minutes were a blur for Freddie, but he'd never forget seeing Trevor tackled to the ground and handcuffed. His ugly sneer of his face as he was lead away, a small line of all his henchmen close behind.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Freddie turned back round, watching in worry as paramedics flooded the building, gently lifting Jason onto a stretcher. A police officer began informing one the paramedics on the situation and Freddie made his way over.

"He's been here since around midday, but I don't know what Trevor's been doing to him."  
Both men nodded as Freddie tried to help them fill out the blanks. Before the paramedic could turn away, Freddie spoke up once more. "Jase is a type 1 diabetic and I doubt Trevor gave him any insulin, which means he won't have had a shot for hours."

"He should be okay sir," the middle aged man replied, noting the information on a clipboard. "But thank you for informing us, we'll sort his blood sugar levels out at the hospital." Shooting the younger man a smile, he turned back to Jason, helping the two other doctors whisk him out of sight. Freddie went to follow them, only stopped by Joe who met him in the middle.

"Cutting it a bit fine hey?" Freddie tried to joke, it falling flat as the image of Jason, battered within an inch of his life refuses to leave his mind.

"I told you it'd work though," Joe smiled grimly.

"_Look I know what I've done Joe. And have a go at me all you want, just not now. Because I need to get Jason out of there and I really need your help." _

_Sighing again, Joe pushed back the anger that he was feeling, trying to keep a cool head and assess the situation properly. "Well I think there's only one thing we can do."_

"_And what's that hey? I've already tried to get Jason out of there, even tried to swap places. Trevor ain't exactly up to bargaining. And we can't sneak in either, the place is crawling with all of his men, we'd be caught in minutes." _

"_I ain't saying we should do either of those things," Joe replied. "He'll be expecting that, no we'll do something he'll never think we'd have the balls for."  
"And what's that?" _

"_We get the police involved." _

"_Are you crazy?" Freddie hissed. "That'll never work, Trevor's been taken in loads of times, but he's never been charged." _

"_And this is where it changes. Because the police are going to catch him in the act." _

"_Even if this plan does work, what does it mean for me? He'll dob me in, there's no way around that and then I'll get done too. The law doesn't exactly look up on drug dealing." _

"_Would you rather be in a cell for a few years or let your own family die?" Joe asked, knowing what his brother would say before he finished asking the question. _

_Freddie sighed, the choice was obvious, he might not want to go to jail but there was no way he was letting anyone else get hurt on his watch. "So what do we do?" _

"We're going to need statements from both of you," a police man told the two brothers, collecting their contact details so he could call them to the station.

"Can we go now?" Freddie asked desperately. Apart from just a few minutes before, he hadn't seen Jason properly so had no idea what state his younger brother was in.

"Of course," the officer replied, Joe and Freddie roughly pushing past him as they tried to reach the door. The car journey to the hospital was a short one, but felt like the longest for both Roscoes. Neither spoke as Joe speeded down the streets, parking unceremoniously in the car park only minutes later, hoping desperately that Jason would be okay.

However they both froze once they saw Lindsey pacing by the reception desk, occasionally asking the receptionist questions. "Oh no," Joe breathed. "You don't think she knows?"

"Well it's probably too much of a coincidence bro," Freddie replied, walking through the foyer once more.

"Joe!" Lindsey cried when she spotted the pair. "Jason's just been brought in. He's critical-"

"We know babe," Joe muttered, pulling Lindsey into a tight hug. He briefly told her what had happened, leaving out why Trevor had singled out Jason and Freddie shot him a thankful smile. Soon the whole family would know the mess he had found himself in, but that could wait for a few more hours at least.

"I tried calling you both," Lindsey told them both, walking down to the ward that Jason was being kept in. "But there was no answer, the others are all one their way though." As they were waiting for the others outside Jason's room, a doctor left the room looking bleak.

"Jason Roscoe's family I presume?" he asked, when he saw them all looking at him desperately. "He has been incredibly lucky and actually looks a lot worse than he is. His left hand has been completely shattered and he'll need it putting in a cast for the next few months, though we can't yet tell if he'll need realignment surgery. He also has two broken ribs and the rest are bruised, but amazingly his lungs haven't been pierced.

"His left shoulder was also dislocated and there's a lot of bruising, but apart from that he seems to be in the clear. We've got him on a drip and have levelled out his blood sugar, but we want to keep him in for the next few days minimum."

"Thank you doctor," Lindsey smiled warmly, clutching Joe's hand tightly in hers. Said doctor smiled and briskly walked down the ward, turning round the corner and out of sight. Not even a minute had passed before Sandy, Ziggy and Robbie ran down the ward, stopping when they reached their family.

Once more Joe filled the others in and Freddie leant back, sighing heavily. This had been all his fault and Jason had paid the price. But it was over for him, Trevor had been arrested and he wouldn't be let out. For Freddie however, well it was just beginning.

All of his life he had done everything he could to stay off of the police's radar, not caring what he had to do, but that was over. Seeing his own flesh and blood on death's door for something he had done had been the final straw and for the first time in his life Freddie was prepared to do what was right.

There would be no more lies, no more doing what thugs like Trevor wanted him to do, instead he'd do the right thing. He'd own up to his crimes and suffer the consequences. For the first time in his life, Freddie was going to do the right thing and even with the threat of years in a cell, he'd never felt better.

_So a bit of bleak ending right? I love Freddie and hope this doesn't happen for him when he eventually leaves (hopefully in many years to come), but for this story, I didn't see any sort of alternative, because come on, Trevor would take everyone and anyone down with him. _

_Next Story – The twin's receive their GCSE's and a little bit of jealously happens – prompted by H20xspelboundfanx and Syrah, as well as the countless number of people who have asked for cute brotherly moments between the twins! _


	19. Results Day

_Results Day _

_This story has been prompted by both H20xspelboundfanx and Syrah and their prompts were_** The twins receive their GCSE results, and there's a little bit of jealously. **

_Happy reading!_

"Relax Jase," Robbie sighed as watched the bundle of nervous energy, otherwise known as his twin brother, out of the corner of his eye. "You'll have done great, you're dead good at school."

"You don't know that though. Just cause I did well in class doesn't mean that I did in the actual exams."

"Please shut up before I hit you," Robbie groaned, his brother's nerves making his own increase tenfold. "We all know you've passed everything, it's me that mum's worried about. She wants me to go back to sixth form so I need to pass at least five subjects, and between you and me, I don't think she even believes that I turned up to that many."

Rolling his eyes at his brother's joking tone, Jason didn't comment, instead choosing to focus on putting one foot in front of the other as the school building loomed up into sight.

"I don't even get why you're that nervous," Robbie shrugged when Jason remained silent. "We've already done like, two thirds of each subject by January, and you've passed all of that. Why wouldn't you have done for these?"

"It's not that, not really," Jason admitted after a moment. "You know how I want to do Biology, Chemistry, English and Sociology next year?"

"Yeah," Robbie nodded, they'd received their option columns for A-levels the other day and Jason had quickly filled out his in mere minutes.

"Well sociology is fine because it wasn't a GCSE option, but for English I need at least a C and a B for both sciences. And I know I've already passed English with coursework alone, but with that new teacher we got for Biology last year my grade has dropped to a C. I needed to have got an A in the last exam we did to get a B overall and I don't think I did."

Robbie mulled over Jason's words for a few moments, trying to think of the best way to support his brother. "Look, you'll be fine okay. You did loads of revision for that, there's no way you didn't get an A."

"Well, I guess there's only one way to find out." Jason said nervously, opening the school door and making his way to the table where a stack of envelopes was sat.

"Name?" One of the school secretaries asked, the boredom evident in her tone.

"Jason and Robbie Roscoe." She found the two envelopes, passing them other to the brothers.

They turned as one, making their way outside before looking at the sealed results. "You ready?" Robbie asked, biting back his nerves as Jason paled.

He nodded, and together they opened their results, reading down the subject lists hurriedly. "So?" Robbie asked Jason, though he knew it was good if his smile was anything to go by.

"Three A*s, five A's and two B's. You?"

"An A, two B's, two C's and four D's and an E. I got in to sixth form!"

Jason laughed lightly, genuinely pleased for his brother. Despite Robbie's pretences, Jason knew he had been worried about his results and he did actually want to go to sixth form.

He deserved them, Robbie had worked for his grades and though he liked people to think otherwise, he was smart.

He called up their mum, whilst Robbie dialled Joe's number into his phone. They told them their results respectively, before calling up both Freddie and Ziggy too. Their family had all sounded delighted, and Sandy had promised to make her beef bourguignon for the special occasion, despite their protesting.

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly enough, catching up with friends and either congratulating their success or comforting them if they hadn't done so well.

By the time six pm had rolled around, Robbie and Jason found themselves back home, pushing their way into the living room where the others were all sat, obviously waiting.

"Congratulations boys," Sandy said instantly, jumping up and hugging them both tightly. Once she finally released them from her iron grip, the others came over all congratulating, broad grins on their faces.

"So what did you get the A in Robbie?" Lindsey asked, perching lightly on the armchair arm.

"PE, almost got an A* too,"

"Ah, not a proper GCSE then squirt," Joe joked, ruffling his hair lightly, not noticing the way Robbie stiffened slightly.

"I did PE for A-level," Lindsey told Joe, arching an eyebrow before winking lightly at Robbie. "And I'm training to be a Doctor, still a useless qualification now?"

The family all chuckled as Joe flushed, spluttering at his girlfriend. The beeping of the oven timer thankfully interrupted his ramblings and Sandy rushed to the kitchen as the others made their way to the table.

"Thanks for inviting me Sandy," Lindsey smiled, seating herself in between Joe and Freddie.

"No problem love, it's a special occasion after all. My boys are all grown up, going to sixth form-"

"And I think we're all in collective shock that Robbie scraped enough passes to manage that," Freddie quipped, making the others laugh. Robbie forced himself to smile, though no-one seemed to notice how unconvincing it was.

"Well done though boys," Sandy said seriously once the laughter had subsided, lifting her glass of wine to toast them both. "I'm so proud of you both, you've done this family well. Cheers!"

"Cheers," the other echoed and Robbie leant back, feeling slightly more appeased. He tried to shrug off his earlier annoyance at his brothers. They were only teasing after all, he had never been the most academic of people, so their comments were fair enough.

They were proud of him though, that was what really mattered.

}}}}}}}}}

Dinner was over shortly after, the family managing to choke down a substantial amount of food to keep Sandy sweet. Jason was left clearing the table with his mum, rolling his eyes at Ziggy's playful yell of "Just cause you passed your exams don't mean you're getting out of chores,".

Joe and Lindsey disappeared shortly after, slipping out the front door to go down to the park, leaving only Freddie, Ziggy and Robbie in the living room, furiously battling it out on the xbox. Robbie quickly tired of watching his two brothers furiously murdering zombies whilst he waited for his turn, left to get a drink from the kitchen, in the hopes it would be his turn when he returned.

"You've done so well baby," he heard his mum through the kitchen door, smiling as Jason audibly sighed.

"Yeah, you've said."

"I know darling, but I'm still so proud. Three A*s and five A's! That's the best in the whole family you know, you'll do so well in A-levels."

"You reckon?" Jason asked, and even without seeing his brother, Robbie could tell how nervous he was.

"Of course darling. You'll ace your subjects again and before I know it, you'll be going to a far off university leaving me and all your brothers behind."

_All your brothers_. Including Robbie.

The annoyance reared its ugly head once more and Robbie backed away from the kitchen, no longer feeling thirsty. Instead of making his way to the living room, he climbed up the stairs and entered his room, landing ungracefully on the bed.

This should be one of the best days of his summer, finding out he had done well for his exams with minimum failing. He had gotten into sixth form and had even done well enough to study exactly what he wanted to next year. But instead, the evening was full of comparisons.

_Not a real GCSE_

_Surprised he scraped enough passes to get into sixth form_

_You'll be going to university leaving me and your brothers behind_

The words swirled around in his mind and Robbie was surprised by the tears that had sprung up. He furiously wiped them away, berating himself for his stupidness. Why did he even care? It didn't matter if Jason had done better than him (it had always been a given anyway).

He didn't even care about bloody school, hell he barely turned up, and the majority of the time he spent in that hell-hole was in detention.

He suddenly yearned for his results paper, wishing desperately that he could tear it up into tiny little shreds and never have to see it again. Instead, he had to settle with punching the wall angrily, crying out as the pain made its way up his whole arm.

"What the hell bro?" Jason's shocked voice brought Robbie out of his thoughts, having seen the unprovoked attack on the wall as he entered their shared bedroom. "What are you doing?"

"None of your business," Robbie snarled, cradling his already swollen hand. "Shouldn't you be downstairs, revelling in your success?"

"I came to find you, you just disappeared on us. Mum's angry enough that Joe's gone off with Lindsey, she'll be livid if anyone else leaves."

"Well don't worry, I ain't going anywhere. Not that it bloody matters anyway."

"What are you chatting?" Jason asked, genuinely confused and closing the bedroom door behind him in the hopes that Robbie would open up.

"Nothing."

"Well it's obviously something. What's up Rob? Talk to me."

"You really are perfect aren't you?" Robbie scoffed, his eyes flashing.

"Right... I'm lost. You going to tell me what the hell is going on through your head, or you just going to leave me guessing."

"Well, perfect student, loving son and now it seems like you're a bloody therapist."

"My confusion still hasn't cleared up, so sorry if I'm being incredibly dense here, but you're going to have to go step by step for me."

The anger that Robbie had been feeling subsided slightly. He wasn't angry at Jason, his twin hadn't done anything wrong, no-one had done anything wrong actually, he was just being over-sensitive.

Jason wasn't malicious in the slightest, never threw the fact that he was better at school into Robbie's face at every passing turn, and now, when he had been a dick all night, his twin was there, desperately trying to find out what was wrong, not enjoying his own success.

He never used to mind when Jason was the brains of the family, it really didn't concern him in the slightest actually, it was the fact that it's a constant thing and it's happening again today of all days. He actually worked hard for those grades, did what he could do and hoped wholeheartedly it wouldn't be too late to make something decent out of his life.

And it hadn't been, he'd gotten more than enough to get into sixth form, hell he'd only failed maths. But because Jason did so much better, outstanding the family with his brilliant grades, he was once more left out in the rain.

It sucked, sure no-one said it to his face but he knew what they were thinking. They saw him as a failure, maybe if it had just been him, if there hadn't been any one to compare him to it would have been different, But there was. And it was Jason.

Before he knew it, his thoughts were spilling out as words and the look of concern on Jason's face grew only larger as time passed.

"You really think that?" he asked once Robbie had stopped, breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath. "You're a real muppet sometimes Rob, you know that?"

"What?" Robbie asked cautiously. "Thinking I should take back that therapist comment now."

"Hey! I'm keeping that, think it adds a nice ring to my name."

"You're so weird," Robbie muttered under his breath, though it seemed like Jason didn't hear his offhand comment, that or he was purposely ignoring it.

"Let me try this whole supporting thing again. There's nothing to compare between us two. So what you didn't get A's in everything, no-one cares. We all know that you worked hard for those grades and you did a lot better than Ziggy. And if you'd stayed to listen to mum for a bit longer you would have heard her talk about how proud she is of you."

"Really?" Robbie asked, not sure of whether to believe his brother.

"Yeah you idiot. It was quite sickening really. We're not in some sort of competition and you're a lot better than me at a lot of things. The most irritating is you actually manage to talk to girls."

Christ, he must be looking pathetic if Jason was willingly bringing up his nervousness around the opposite gender.

"Obviously the most important thing going," he scoffed, rolling his eyes as Jason lightly chuckled.

"I'd say so, for two hormonal teenagers anyway."

"Repeating the weird comment again J!"

"Sometimes I don't know why I try," Jason said, but he was smiling and he knew he'd gotten through to his twin. "Now come on, lets get out of here. Jess Potts is throwing a party to celebrate and if we leave now they'll be plenty of drink left."

Laughing at Jason's antics, Robbie followed him as they snuck out of the house, ready to celebrate his results properly this time.

_Hope you all enjoyed that, as always leave a review! Every single one means so much to me, this story hit 50 reviews the other day and I want to thank everyone, anonymous or not, who's helped me to hit that milestone. _

_I never thought I'd reach that, when I started this little story out, so thank you all, once again. _

_Next Story – A day out takes a turn for the worse for the brothers and they will never be the same again. Warning – major character death. _


	20. Forgive me, my brother

_Forgive me, my brother _

_Sorry guys for not updating yesterday, I had the world's worst migraine and even lying in a silent, pitch black room was incredibly painful. As an apology, this chapter is lovely and long for you all, and when I say lovely I mean heartbreaking. _

_A anonymous guest has left this prompt and it was _**A day out takes a turn for the worse for the brothers, and the Roscoe family will never be the same again. Major Character death! **

"Can you tell me where it happened Mr Roscoe?"

It had been down the river by the folley. They all knew this, they'd been called down there, dragged his lifeless body out of the water, whilst he and the others had all been held back by some of the police officers.

They said they didn't want him to see the body, didn't want him to see his brother like that, but it was too late, he'd already seen his lifeless form being carried away before a sheet had been placed over him.

"And when exactly did it happen?"

They know the answer to this question to this too. Why is he even here if they have all the answers already? He doesn't say this, doesn't have the strength to be a sarcastic git, not now.

_He'd _disappeared under the water just after four, they'd called the police and ambulance at quarter

past.

"So what happened son?"

He bristled at that, this man was of no relation to him and therefore had no right to call him son. No, the only man with that right was his dad, and he lost that right when he fucked off with that brunette down the road, leaving his mum heartbroken.

He doesn't say that though, he's too tired, just wants to go to bed and never leave. Instead he tells them as much as he can, whilst staying coherent.

It had been a Saturday, their first free afternoon in God knows how long, you know how it is with exams and all. But they'd had their last one the day before, and to celebrate, they'd gone down to the creek for the afternoon, with a couple of boys from their year and a few cans of lager to share.

They'd been there for a few hours, wading deeper and deeper, but the lake was misleading, looked shallower and calmer then it was. It was all a blur, one minute his twin had been by his side, the next he was gone, submerged under the water.

They'd tried to find him, all diving under the water one by one in hopes they'd spot him, though there was nothing. No trace he'd even been there.

"Would the alcohol have affected him?"

No. They hadn't had a lot to drink, Max had managed to sneak a few cans out from under his parent's noses but they hadn't even drunk all of it.

They were all going to go to one of the parties that night you see, another celebration for the end of A-levels and the general crapiness of high school, and hadn't wanted to get wasted before hand.

None of them had been drunk and it was a stretch to say they'd even been tipsy. The alcohol hadn't played a part in it, it was their own foolishness and belief that the water was safer than it had been.

"One final question. Was there anything suspicious about the events?"

Was he asking if they did anything to him. Are they seriously asking if he killed his own brother? He would never hurt him, never. The presumption made the boy's blood boil and it took all of his self-restraint not to deck the man in front of him right then and there.

He answered as well as he could, keeping his tone steady, repeating what he had said earlier.

"Thank you Robert," the liaison officer said, ignoring his partner's cry of annoyance as he switched the recorder off, motioning that the young lad was free to Robbie could go anywhere, the middle aged man passed over a small business card with his name and number printed neatly on it.

"That should be all, though please feel free to call this number if you remember anything else and if you ever need to talk. This is a completely terrible thing to happen and you can't keep it all bottled it in. Anything you ever want to discuss will be completely confidential and I'll do everything to help you."

"Right," Robbie muttered, not caring anymore if he sounded rude or not. He snatched the card out of the officer's hand and walked out of the interrogation room, door slamming loudly behind him. He stayed there for a moment, on one side of the door, panting loudly and trying not to let the dam break.

He was still numb, unable to even comprehend what had happened just a few short hours ago, though the coldness was fading and the mind-numbing pain was seeping through the cracks. This was never supposed to happen, he was never supposed to be left alone.

Pure anger poured through his veins, and it took every little bit of strength he had not to scream right then and there. Why did he leave him, and in such a heartless way too.

"Why Jason? Why did it have to be you?" he whispered to himself brokenly, ignoring the sympathetic look that was shot to him from a passing police woman. When she had turned the corner, he took another calming breath, wiping the few tears that had sprung free and walked down the corridor, coming face to face with his equally devastated family.

Sandy jumped straight to her feet, hugging her son tightly as she tried to whisper soothing words into his ear, though Robbie couldn't understand anything she said, as every word was broken up by a sob.

"Come on ma," Freddie said softly, moving Sandy away from Robbie and letting her clutch to him like a life-line instead. Robbie shot his older brother a grateful smile, out of his all brothers Freddie had always been one of the best to understand him. Apart from Jason that is, but that... that was no more.

There would be no more calming words after he got himself involved in an argument, no more shared glances across the room when one of their brothers said anything particularly stupid. There wouldn't be anything.

Sluggishly, he followed the others to the two cars, still not saying anything as he followed Freddie and Ziggy into one, whilst the others climbed into the second. The ride home was hell, no-one spoke for the whole journey, but if Robbie thought that was bad, well it was nothing like the atmosphere at the house.

They all milled around the living room for a bit, though it was like they were all strangers, thrust upon one another with nothing to say. Robbie was the first to crack, and after making a lame excuse, he retired to his room (not theirs, only his now) , heart breaking once more as he saw Jason's hoodie lying lazily on his bunk.

He'd only been wearing it that morning, though it'd been too hot to take down to the folley. Picking it up, Robbie pressed it into his face, inhaling deeply as the smell of Jason surrounded him. If he closed his eyes tightly, then he could pretend it never happened. That Jason was still here, that he hadn't left him to deal with all this stupid crap on his own.

He crawled onto the bottom bunk (Jason's bed his mind reminded him), wrapping the duvet tightly round and surrounding himself in the familiar smell that had been Jason.

"_Come on Jase, Max and Pete are coming down to the creek too. We'll have the plenty of time before the party." _

"_Urghh fine," Jason groaned dramatically, not really meaning it. He shrugged off his hoodie, throwing it carelessly on the bed. _

"_Did I mention Max is bringing some beer?" _

"_Get me there then son!" Jason laughed, letting Robbie pull him out of the house, the two boys running down to the folley, ready to fully enjoy their first day of freedom. Max and Pete were already down there, sharing a can between them as they talked quietly. _

"_Thought we could go easy for now," Max explained, chucking a can over to the twins. "I don't want to be bladdered before tonight even begins." They all agreed with him, passing the two cans around and chatting easily for a few minutes, before making their way down to the waterside. _

_As one the four boys waded in, splashing the cool water over the others and laughing as they mucked about. They hadn't been in there for long, twenty minutes at most, but they'd been steadily getting deeper and deeper. _

"_Maybe we should head back?" Pete suggested cautiously, though the others laughed off his worries. _

"_Don't be such a wuss," Robbie said, turning to splash him once more. When he turned back Jason was no-where in sight. "Jason?" he called, looking into the water and half-expecting his brother to clutch at his ankles. _

_When that didn't happen, worry began settling in. "You see where he went?" he said to Max, though the blonde lad looked confused. _

"_No, he was just right here."_

"_You don't think-"_

"_If you finish that thought Pete, I swear to God." Robbie said coldly, not taking his eyes off the water surface, praying for Jason to appear. _

"_Jason!" Max called, and soon the two other lads were joining in, growing increasingly desperate as there was no answer. Robbie dived into the water, trying to spot something through the murkiness, though there was nothing he could see. _

_A sharp wave tugged at him and he felt himself being swept away, but before he could get far, his two friends dragged him back up to the surface. "It's a sharp current...What if he was washed away." _

"_No, no, no that can't have happened," Robbie insisted desperately, going back under the water, though keeping well away from the current. He kept this up for another five minutes, before Pete and Max physically dragged him out of the water. _

"_He's not going to be at this bit anymore," Pete reasoned, running down the bank and trying to find the now missing boy. They searched desperately for another ten minutes before Max grabbed his phone._

"_We need to call someone, they'll be able to find him easier, if they haven't already." Although he wanted to argue, logic won out and Robbie nodded, not stopping his search until a small mix of police, paramedics and rescue team had arrived. _

_The three boys were herded away from the river, though they could still see everything. Including when the group herded to one specific spot, dragging a limp body out of the water. Robbie saw as one of the paramedics shook their heads weakly, not hearing a word as a stretcher and body-bag were brought over. _

"_We're so sorry, but Jason Roscoe is dead."_

He woke up gasping for breath, his face wet with tears. He thought he was being quite, containing the sobs that so desperately wanted to break free, but in mere moments Sandy had rushed into his room, the others crowding the door way.

She pulled him close, muttering soothing nothings into his ear, though he didn't let himself cry. He couldn't. Instead he tried to keep control of his breathing, wincing at the sharp pains in his chest as he fought through a panic attack.

Why? Why did it have to be Jason? It should never have been him. Jason had so much to live for, so much left to do. He was the one who was going make a success for himself, was going to help people, but no, he was gone and Robbie was left.

}}}}}}

No-one had said a word about the previous night, and Robbie was eternally grateful. He hadn't managed to get back to sleep, but it looked like a similar situation for the rest of the family. That morning was pretty much like the evening, everyone milling around, not quite sure of what to do.

They hadn't opened the garage up for obvious reasons, and the day was only broken up by the doorbell ringing every few minutes, sympathetic friends and passer-bys giving the family their well wishes.

Robbie had been banned from that duty when he had made one girl practically cry, though when the doorbell rang for the third time in less than ten minutes, the young Roscoe found his patience snapping once more.

He swung the door open sharply, ignoring the cry of his brothers, and only pausing when he came face to face with the liaison officer from the previous day.

"Robbie," he nodded, smiling weakly at the rest of the family who had now crowded around the youngest of the family. "Can I come in?"

Reluctantly Robbie moved away, guiding the man to the living room as the others all seated.

"Regarding yesterday's situation, Jason's death has now been declared as completely accidental," he told them sombrely. "I wanted to be the one to tell you all, it means I can make your options clear."

The family were silent, trying not to react at the man's choice of wording.

Robbie knew the man was trying to be supportive, trying to ease their pain slightly, but the word accident grated him. A death shouldn't be an accident, an accident was knocking over a cup of tea or forgetting to do a piece of coursework. Small things, unimportant thing, not death, that was anything but an accident.

"What you'll be going through now is terrible and I know how difficult it must be for you all to wrap your heads around." The officer's words broke through Robbie's thoughts, and he realised he had zoned out.

"You've lost your brother, your son and losing a family member, especially at such a young age is never easy. But talking will help and if anyone wants to come to me, I'll never turn you away." He stood, giving Sandy a business card, exactly identical to the one he had given to Robbie the day before.

He said his good-byes before Sandy led him out of the house, the two adults quietly talking in the porch for a few minutes, though their words were slightly muffled and Robbie found he didn't have the strength to find out what they were talking about.

"I'm going to my room," he muttered, though no-one responded to his words, be it because they didn't hear him or because, like him, they simply didn't have the strength to react anymore. Throwing a look over his shoulder, Robbie's heart felt like it was breaking again.

No-one had moved, no-one had even acknowledged his own movement. Too lost in their own thoughts, in their own grief, the Roscoe family were all drowning.

}}}}}}}}

The funeral was a quiet one, family members all made their way up to Chester, as well as close friends. Robbie didn't make a speech, he was given the option but had politely declined. He didn't feel right, laying himself bare for people to see his weakness, people who he didn't care for and who were only there out of courtesy.

Instead, both Sandy and Joe spoke, talking about the happy times, the few experiences that Jason had had before the carpet had been carelessly ripped out from under him. For every memory, for every fact they shared, Robbie had a contradicting one.

Memories ploughed through his head, reminding him of forgotten times, seemingly unimportant ones that now Robbie would do anything to experience once more. Copying answers off Jason's homework, sneaking their mum's inedible food into napkins under the table whilst sharing joking glances, countless summer afternoons as they roamed the estate, enjoying the weather and break off school.

He helped carry the coffin out when it was time, one brother for every corner. Everyone was crying when they lowered it into the ground, sobs wracking through his mother's form as they began pouring the dirt over.

Everyone was crying, showing some form of emotion except for Robbie, his face remained dry, eyes not even glistening as the coffin slowly began disappearing from view.

He hadn't cried yet. Not properly anyway. In the five days since Jason had gone he hadn't had anything. No tears except for when he woke up, gasping for breath, no outward grief, no sign to show that he was mourning like the rest of his family.

He was just numb, still couldn't believe that Jason, _his brother _was gone. It wasn't possible, he was meant to be here, meant to be by his side. But he wasn't, he was six feet under, slowly rotting away as Robbie was left to deal with the fallout. Why was he the one left?

He had nothing to offer to anyone, he was the screw up! Jason had so much left to do, so much left to see. It should have been the other way round, he should have been dragged under the water, slowly gasping for breath as his life line dramatically decreased to nothing.

He was the screw up, he should have been the one to die. For the hundredth time in just five days, the same question passed his lips.

"Why Jason? Why you?"

}}}}}}}

_The paramedics, police and rescue team had just arrived, a few choosing to move the frantic boys away from the scene. _

"_He's my brother! I need to get over there, I need to find him!" Robbie protested, struggling against the older man's grip. _

"_Just let them do their job," the officer said kindly, though his tone sounded more patronising than anything. "It'll be a much quicker process-" _

_Robbie stopped listening as he saw a body being dragged out of the water. The paramedics instantly began herding around Jason, doing everything in their power that they could to help, but it was too late. _

"_Jason!" Robbie screamed, desperately struggling against the officer to no use. "Why are they giving up? Why aren't they helping anymore." With one giant push, Robbie managed to break free, wading into the water to try and reach his brother on the opposite bank. _

_A sharp tug of water stopped him and when he steadied himself the grassy bank was empty, no sign that there had been any action only seconds earlier. _

"_Jason?" Robbie called out unsurely, his voice echoing through the folley. He turned around quickly, ready to demand answers from the others who had been helping out, but like the bank behind him, this one was also empty. _

"_Hello? Where is everyone?"_

Silence surrounded him and the only thing Robbie could hear was the rustling of the tree's leaves and the steady dripping of water. He spun around, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of some sort of life, anything that could explain what was happening, though he stopped in shock when he came face to face with Jason.

_He was wearing exactly the same clothes he had been on the day of his drowning, but that was the only similarity. This Jason was soaked to the bone, his hair lying limp across his head. His fingers were visibly wrinkled, like he'd spent hours in the water not minutes. _

_But the biggest change was the expression on his face. His smile was twisted into a sadistic version of his usual grin, his eyes cold and unforgiving. _

"_You did this to me." _

"_Wh- what are you talking bout?" _

"_You killed me. You told me to come, made me come in the water. I'd still be here if it wasn't for you. It's all your fault. All your fault! All your fault!"_

Jason's screaming came to an abrupt end as Robbie woke with a gasp. He was drenched with sweat and his breathing was too quick, too short, to be of any use. As he fought the panic attack, trying to get a sense of what was happening, the bedroom door remained shut.

The first few times he had had bad dreams, the whole family had come rushing through, doing anything to help him through the pain. That had stopped two nights ago, three weeks after Jason had died.

He didn't know whether it was because they had all finally started sleeping through the whole night themselves, therefore not waking up when Robbie was crying out in his dreams, whether he had become more discreet and therefore too quiet for anyone to hear his struggles or whether they had simply stopped caring.

He couldn't help but think it was the latter.

}}}}}}}}}

A month after Jason died, was the first time that Robbie visited his grave. Sure, he'd been there at the funeral, but the headstone hadn't been put in place and there was a gaping hole in the ground. Now the dirt had settled, although the grass hadn't started growing yet and the headstone was still gleaming, an obvious sign that Jason's grave place was also the newest in the vicinity.

There was a pile of fresh flowers at the bottom of his headstone, brightly coloured things that Robbie had no intention of learning the name of.

He didn't move the flowers, didn't have any of his own to place next to them, he didn't sit by the grave like the little old man at the opposite end of the site was and he looked over his shoulder before he began speaking, like there could be someone watching him, ready to take the mick.

Apart from the little old man, he was alone.

Taking a deep breath Robbie opened his mouth, and that was when it all came spilling out.

At first he tried to remain composed, keep a tight lid on his emotions like he had been doing for the last month, but that day, seeing his twin brother's grave for the first time, on the one month anniversary of his death, was simply too much. Before Robbie knew it, he was screaming, crying out, ripping the carefully placed bouquets into shreds and throwing them over his shoulder.

He didn't know how long he was crying for, screaming for answers he'd never get, but the next moment Robbie was on the floor, leaning heavily against the slab and crying softly to himself for the first time.

"Why? Why did you have to leave me Jase? I can't do this without you, I need you. I know I pretended like I didn't, like I didn't care but I did, I so did. You were my twin, you were half of me, but now you're gone. I need you Jason, I need you more than freaking air. You can't make me do this on my own, you just can't."

By the time he had stopped crying, nose fully blocked and feeling like he had no tears left to shed, the sky was getting dark and the little old man had long since gone. Surprisingly Robbie felt a little better, less like he was going to break, less tightly sprung than he had done in a long time.

He patted the stone a couple of times, saying his silent goodbyes to his brother before making his way out of the graveyard, hands reaching into his hoodie pockets as he tries to keep warm.

He stopped completely when his left hand connected with something, and withdrawing it from the pocket, Robbie came face to face with the small business card that the liaison officer had given him a month ago.

Not caring for the late hour, Robbie dialled the number, somewhat surprised when he got an answer. "Hey, it's me, Robbie Roscoe. I think I'm ready for that talk now."

}}}}}}}

"This is it bro," Robbie said, kneeling down by the gravestone with two envelopes in his hand. "A-level results, God it's come quicker than I thought it would." It had been two months since Jason had died, and whilst it was still difficult, every day being a struggle to get out of bed, Robbie was getting better.

He'd talked to the liaison officer a few times as well as a grief counsellor. He wasn't so scared to show his feelings anymore and had been to Jason's grave half a dozen times since, each time simply talking, updating his brother on the world around them, letting his heart heal and moving along with the grieving process.

"I'll do yours first, get the best out of the way and all." He ripped the envelope impatiently, not surprised by what he saw. Two A's in biology and sociology and a B in English Lit. Well done mate, you'd have gotten into Durham." He looked over the results, reading exam and coursework scores to himself, proud of his brother for doing so well, if only Jason had been able to see it for himself.

Trying not to get too bogged down with emotion, he folded the results back into the open envelope before opening his own one.

"A C in Physics and a B in English Lit and PE, get in there! I got into uni! Bet you can't believe your eyes, though that B in English is all down to you. If you hadn't got me through the coursework who knows where I'd be?"

He stayed at the graveside for a further twenty minutes before Freddie text him, reminding the young Roscoe that he had to get down to the garage.

"Work calls," he said with a small smile, patting the grave-stone lightly and whispering a quiet good-bye to his brother. It would never be easy, he would always be grieving for his lost twin, but Robbie was getting better. Day by day his heart was healing, and he knew, he just knew that somewhere, somehow Jason was watching over him.

And that was all he needed to get him through.

_I hope the prompter and everyone else enjoyed this incredibly sad oneshot, I loved writing it, especially Robbie's dreams. It was incredibly interesting to think about how the others would have reacted, though mainly Robbie, because it would change him completely, to be there when his twin died and be able to do nothing about it. _

_Admittedly the actual prompt wasn't what I actually posted above but _**Jason and Robbie are with a few friends by the river and Jason slips and drowns. **_However I really wanted to keep the suspense up, and not reveal who died straight away, though many of you probably guessed correctly anyway! _

_I just wanted to thank everyone who reviews, especially the people who are anonymous who I can't message and thank personally. They all mean so much to me. _

_Maria: Thank you for all the amazing reviews, both for this story and for Downwards Spiral. I love hearing feedback from others and it really helps to think about where I want to take my stories. I'm glad you like the way I write Jason and Robbie's relationship, I certainly enjoy writing it. Nice prompt, should be around chapter 28/29!  
_

_Lydia: Fight? What fight? I'm assuming you meant for the last chapter, but there was no prompt about either brother fighting about their results, just Robbie feeling insecure and Jason supporting him. Some people do request more than one story so you might have gotten confused between the prompts? Haha_

_Next Story – After coming out, Jason quickly enters his first relationship with a guy, though it's not everything that it seems. Again, not a very happy one, sorry guys. Happy ones are on there way, I promise! _


	21. It's Not All Sunshine and Rainbows

_It's not all sunshine and rainbows _

_The story was prompted by a guest and the prompt was _**After coming out, Jason quickly enters his first relationship with a guy, though it's not all that this seems. **

_This story deals with relationship abuse, so I want to put a warning out there, that this one chapter will be rated M. If anyone feels uncomfortable reading this, for any reason whatsoever, then please don't. I would hate to trigger someone. _ _Although, this is mainly focused around a relationship, there isn't any smut so don't worry if you feel uncomfortable reading that. _

Surprisingly, coming out to his family had been a lot easier that Jason had originally thought it would have been. He had been aware of his... preferences for almost a year before moving up to Chester, too scared to say anything in case his family's reaction was less than admirable, and he was cast aside.

It was a stupid fear and Jason knew that before he even told his family he was gay, but that didn't stop it from being there, at the back of his mind, stopping him from telling his family the moment he had accepted himself.

But there had been little reaction of the negative sort when he had informed them, which had lifted a whole weight from Jason's shoulders, though to be fair to his family, he hadn't exactly given them a lot of warning that he was going to drop a bombshell on them.

_It had been a typical Sunday night, the whole family was crowded around the table, picking at the inedible food that Sandy had 'cooked' for them and keeping up an easy flow of conversation. Only one person was quiet, Jason had finally convinced himself that he needed to tell his family that he was gay. _

_He had kept it hidden for too long and they needed to know, he felt awful about lying to them for so long, so he had decided to tell them after dinner that night._ _Whilst Jason was having an internal crisis, planning and scripting what he was going to say in his head, the others were doing everything in their power to force down the cremated toad in the hole, not noticing the youngest's dilemma._

_Through years of experience, Joe knew that the only way he would be able to finish the meal in front of him, would be to make in completely unrecognisable. He went to grab the ketchup by Jason's plate, though he was too far away to grab it. _

"_Pass us the ketchup Jase," he requested._

"_I'm gay," Jason said on automatic, eyes widening as he realised what words had just spilled out of his mouth, completely by accident. No-one said anything for a moment, the only noise in the whole house being the sound of Freddie choking on his water. _

_The second eldest Roscoe brother had unfortunately taken a sip of his drink when Jason made his confession, and had gone to snort with amusement at the ridiculousness of the situation, only for the water to go down his windpipe._

_When Freddie's coughing fit had subsided, Jason looked up from his plate, cautiously making eye contact with the others. He couldn't decipher what was in their looks, though he saw no disappointment or anger, a good sign surely?_

"_Does that affect your passing the ketchup skills" Joe asked after a pause._

"_Uh... what?" Jason asked, waiting for the bomb to hit. Was that it? Was something actually able to happen in his disordered and overly dramatic family without any sort of consequence?_

"_His hearing too by the looks of things," Ziggy grinned as the others all lightly chuckled._

"_We don't care Jase, I mean we do care about you, but you're still you-" Sandy rambled, silencing when Jason took his mum's hand and squeezed it, thanking her silently._

"_So, this isn't a problem for any of you?" Jason asked, turning to Robbie. Although he would never admit it, his twin's opinion mattered greatly to him and he wouldn't be able to deal if Robbie refused to speak to him about this._

"_Course it ain't mate," Robbie said, knowing Jason was directly asking him. "But you're definitely going to have to give me warning if you bring a bloke round, I don't need to see that."_ _The grin that had formed on Jason's face refused to leave and he tucked into his dinner with gusto now, earlier nerves gone._

He knew there had been little to worry about, his family weren't homophobic in the slightest, despite people's beliefs about Robbie, but Jason knew his brother too well. Robbie wasn't homophobic, but he was good at finding peoples weak spots and manipulating them, to get what he wanted.

If being gay was his way to get in, Robbie would use any sort of language and actions to get what he wanted. It wasn't a good characteristic to have, something Jason had told him plenty of times, but if it made it so that Robbie could accept him, he guess he could handle it for the moment.

Maybe Robbie would grow out of his manipulative stage, though tonight was not that night. "Come on Jase," said brother called, dragging him into The Loft by the scruff of the collar, and winking slyly at the bouncer who he had just spent the last ten minutes talking to, the older man now looking slightly ill.

"Do I even know want to know what you said to that poor bloke?" Jason questioned as they wandered up the steps, manoeuvring past a grinding couple in the corner.

"Probably not, though I can show you the pictures," Robbie replied, wiggling his eyebrows. "Although, we're not here to talk about what dirt I've got on dear old Greg, we're here to get you a man. What you need is a god old lay and-"

"Do you have to be so crude?" Jason interrupted, passing over a crisp note to the barmaid and smiling in thanks as she passed over his beer and change.

"Part of me charm bro,"

"Well, I can do without that _charm_ thank you very much."

"Rubbish, you don't know what you're talking about. After tonight you'll be thanking me for ages and don't you forget it."

"We'll see," Jason replied dryly, taking a sip of his beer before spluttering loudly, as Robbie dragged him away from the bar.

"You ain't going to get anywhere if you hide away for the whole night, especially if you're drinking something as boring as carlsberg. Where's the brightly coloured cocktail? The neon straws? The paper umbrella?"

"I'm gay, not flamboyant." Robbie appeared to not have heard him, though the short dig in the ribs that Jason received, suggested otherwise. Instead of crying out, he rolled his eyes when his brother's back was turned, allowing himself to be dragged into the centre of the dance floor and quickly losing himself in the music, mindlessly grinding with a number of different people.

This continued for a few songs before Jason pulled away, panting heavily and making his way back to the bar. He briefly looked for Robbie, grimacing when he saw his brother being dragged into one of the toilets by a leggy, scantily clad blonde.

Before he could pull out his wallet and order another beer, the barmaid pushed over a bright blue cocktail, accompanied with a neon pink paper umbrella. It looked absolutely vile and Jason stared blankly at the drink for a minute, unsure of what to do next and mentally killing Robbie 10 times over.

"The guy in the leather jacket bought it for you," the barmaid told him, shooting him an amused look. "Not sure whether I agree with your face or not, it's difficult to decide whether to be amused or offended."

Jason tore his eyes away from the drink, searching for the guy that the young brunette had described to him. It only took a second, but when Jason saw him, his breath caught. The guy was older (though everyone in this place was, both twins were a couple of months short of 18, but due to Robbie's... conniving self they'd had no trouble all night), and was incredibly good looking.

He must have only been in his early twenties and the messy stubble that littered his face, accompanied by his sparking blue eyes and curly dark hair meant that there was no way this guy didn't have girls and guys alike, falling at his feet. Jason was pretty sure, he was being added to that list.

The mystery guy smiled and motioned to the drink, so automatically Jason picked up the glass and took a careful sip (he didn't want to seem rude after all) though he instantly regretted his earlier politeness.

The drink was beyond vile and it took all of his self restraint to not spit it out right there and then. His eyes watered furiously as he swallowed the monstrosity, throat burning.

"It looked pretty gross," a low voice said behind Jason, and he turned instantly, jaw dropping as he saw the man from across the bar mere inches away from him!

"You think?" Jason uttered, wincing as his voice broke halfway through, throat still adjusting to the sudden torture it had gone through.

"I promise I'm not usually this intruding, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with your brother and thought you really needed to try this crime of humanity. Didn't realise it'd be as gross as it looked."

"Well, it was rank, Though you're free to try it, if you don't fully believe me."

"I'm good," the _god_ told him laughing. "I don't think I'd even manage one sip." Jason laughed lightly, feeling his cheeks flush slightly, though he hoped it wouldn't be noticeable under the lighting.

They lapsed into an awkward silence as Jason tried to desperately think of something to say, cursing his awkward self. "I'm going out for a fag, you coming?"

"Sure," Jason nodded, following the guy out of the club, smiling in thanks when he passed over an unlit cigarette and lighter. He lit up easily and inhaled deeply, instantly feeling the familiar sense of a niccy rush. He felt the guy's eyes boring into his and looked back curiously. "Yes?"

"Nothing, just wouldn't think a guy like you smoked."

"A guy like me?" Jason asked, the amusement seeping into his tone.

"You know, you seem like the goody two shoes type. The amount of people who've started coughing mid-drag when I've offered a fag is outstanding."

"First impressions don't always count for everything," Jason told him lightly, taking another a drag. "Nah I'm not a regular smoker or anything, normally just at parties."

"Yeah I'm starting to see that, that first impressions don't always count that is," the guy said lowly, giving Jason an appreciative look. "I'm Pete by the way, Pete Stewart."

"Jason Roscoe," Jason replied, smiling lightly.

"Don't recognise that name, what course are you studying?"

"Uhh I'm not actually at uni yet, still doing my a-levels."

"I didn't think you were at HCC, I would have definitely remembered you during Freshers." The utterance was accompanied by another sultry look, and Jason suddenly felt extremely weak at the knees.

"Nah I'm not really that memorable," he shrugged, trying to keep his tone light to avoid becoming utterly depressive and boring, he really didn't want to scare Pete away.

"Now I disagree," Pete said, flicking his fag butt to the ground, not taking his eyes off of Jason. "There's no way I'll be forgetting someone like you." Suddenly he was in Jason's face, though it didn't feel intrusive.

He leant in, pausing to give time for the younger boy to move away though there was no way Jason was going to do anything like that. Instead he leant forward, sealing his lips with Pete's, the kiss slowly turning from soft and gentle to enthusiastic and passionate.

As they leant against the club wall, panting loudly into one another's mouths, Jason couldn't help but mentally thank Robbie.

He so owed his brother.

}}}}}}}}}}}}

The next few weeks passed by in a hazy yet amazing blur. After their impromptu make out session by the club, both Pete and Jason exchanged numbers, before spending the rest of the night in the same manner as they previously had done so.

Robbie had spotted them on the main dancefloor, throwing an enthusiastic thumbs up and wink to his brother, before going back to find the blonde from earlier. Since then, they'd been in constant contact.

Cinema dates, lunch at McDonald's and good morning texts, it felt like young love's dream and was the perfect first relationship for Jason, but all good things must come to an end, though some end a bit more explosively than others. This was one of those.

Whilst the Roscoes knew about Pete's existence and his involvement with Jason, none of them had actually met him, bar Robbie, who had only talked to him for a few minutes on the first night the young couple had met.

Jason was adamant that they wouldn't get to meet him either, not wanting his crazy family to scare Pete off. Pete had said little on the matter, happy to keep his distance from his boyfriend's protective brothers.

This was why, on one Saturday night, they found themselves sneaking into the Roscoe household for a bit of quality time, as their usual sanctuary (Pete's flat) had been flooded.

"Shhh," Jason shushed, trying to quell Pete's laughter and only starting himself off too, as they scarpered up the stairs, desperately hoping that the others wouldn't choose to leave the living room, where they were all sat, watching an old movie and waiting for the heavy rain to pass.

Jason had managed to get out of the 'family bonding session' with a well placed lie about lots of coursework to catch up on. As the couple piled into Jason's room, Pete pushed him into the wall, both boys instantly freezing as they waited for someone to notice the noise, though after a minute of nothing, they relaxed and Pete pulled Jason into a searing kiss.

"Best idea ever," the older boy crowed, laughing deliriously.

"Bit cocky aren't we?" Jason joked, nibbling Pete's lobe, just as he liked it. Pete moaned quietly, smoothing his hands over Jason's chest, though instead of stopping like he normally did, he moved down to his trousers, cupping him and groaning, not noticing that Jason had stilled as he thrusted gently, letting the younger boy feel his hardness.

"No, not now," Jason muttered, removing Pete's hands and blushing furiously. "I'm not... I'm not ready."

"Come on babes, it's just a handjob, I'll even return the favour."  
"No Pete," Jason said firmly, hoping that his boyfriend would get the message. "Don't be such a tease Jase, you obviously want it as much as I do." The brunette muttered, a strange hardness to his tone that Jason had never heard before.

He looked down, noting the similar tent in his own pants, though he had been well aware of its presence earlier. "But-"

"But nothing," Pete said, his voice going back to its soft tone. "We're in a relationship and you do like me right?"

"Course."

"Well then, you should be okay doing this. It's just normal, and I have been taking it really slow, because I know I'm your first boyfriend, but we all have needs. You do understand don't you?" Guilt came crashing down and Jason mentally cursed himself.

He didn't want Pete thinking he didn't like him and it was only natural that he wanted their relationship to move along. It was normal after all, most kids in his year had long since lost their virginity and here he was, scared of giving a bloody hand job!

Instead of saying anything, he kissed Pete furiously, trailing his hand down the brunettes toned chest and down to his trousers, where he then began undoing the flies, nerves growing with every second. Pete shrugged his jeans down with ease, pants accompanying them and Jason felt himself freeze for a second as what he was going to do struck home.

Taking a deep breath, Jason moved his hand forward, stroking gently, though Pete's moans told him he was doing ok. And it was pretty hot too, seeing his usually composed boyfriend with such little control, because of something_ he_ was doing.

Before either boy could get any further, the bedroom door swung open, revealing a very shocked Robbie who froze mid-sentence.

"Urgh, I'm... yeah I'm going to go." He said, averting his gaze, before practically running down the stairs and into the living room. Neither Pete or Jason said anything, too mortified to even move.

Eventually, the young Roscoe snapped out of it, his face furiously flushing a magnificent red, as he let his hand drop, whilst Pete quickly pulled up his trousers, refusing to even look over to Jason.

"Oh my God," Jason muttered to himself. "Please tell me that just didn't happen. That couldn't have just happened, there's no way that just happened. Oh my God, that just happened. Rob's never going to let me live that down."  
"Shh babe," Pete comforted, hugging the panicked boy, though Jason could hear his furiously paced heartbeat, as he rested his head against Pete's chest. "It'll be fine, I promise."

Once Jason had calmed, Pete pulled away, looking down into the smaller boy's eyes. "To be honest, I'm not really in the mood anymore. I think it would just be best if I left, I'll call you tomorrow?" Jason nodded, knowing it was for the best.

He moved with Pete, cursing when he saw the living room door was open, the majority of the family still seated around, though Joe, Lindsey and Ziggy had all disappeared at some point.

"Jason, come in here please, with your, uh friend" Sandy called, causing her youngest to curse once more as he shared a panicked look with Pete. As one, they turned into the living room, staring sheepishly at the floor. "I'm assuming this is Pete then?"

"Uh, yes maam," Pete said smoothly, smiling at her and pleasantly surprised when Sandy smiled back. Jason thanked God that Robbie hadn't appeared to have told their mum what he had walked in on, though his nerves returned when he saw that both Robbie and Freddie were lightly snickering to one another.

"You like football Pete?"

"Yeah, it's okay I guess..." Pete replied, obviously unsure of where Robbie was going with his unusual question, whilst Jason glared at both his brothers, knowing what was going to come next. "Ah, you just missed the match, though there were _other _things that were keeping you _occupied _I'm sure_._"

Jason felt Pete stiffen next to him, though Robbie simply didn't care, enjoying the moment to embarrass both guys further, in front of Sandy no less. "Johnson proper _cocked up_ in the second half, I guess he just doesn't have the right _spunk _to go far."

"Rob's right, his effort was was half _harded_, I mean, half hearted at best," Freddie cut in, as Robbie began laughing uncontrollably, sharing a gleeful look with his older brother as the young couple only glared them down, all four ignoring the confused looks that Sandy was shooting them.

Although she didn't know exactly what was going on, Sandy knew that it would be best to move the subject along, before someone did something they regretted.

"You should come round more often though love, it'd be lovely to talk to you properly." She told Pete, shooting a warning glance over to Robbie and Freddie, both boys still laughing.

"Urm, yeah I'd love to," Pete said, shooting another glare at the brothers, before leaving the living room, Jason close behind.

"I'm so sorry Pete-" Jason started when they were in the garden, with no way of the others overhearing the conversation, the light rain slowly soaking them both. "I can't believe Robbie told the others."

Pete growled, fists clenched tightly. "What a little shit,"

"Hey, he's still my brother, you can't just say that!"

"Oh give it a rest Jase, you know I'm right. He had no right to tell Freddie, and then to just flaunt it in front of my face, what fucking cheek."

"I think you just need to calm-" But once again, Jason was interrupted by Pete's shout.

"So you're defending them? They were mocking you too you know. You know what, I can't do this anymore, today's proved that you're just a kid. I like my boyfriends to be a bit more... mature."

"What? Are you... are you breaking up with me?" Jason asked, unable to believe what he was hearing, blood thundering in his ears as the fear began to rise. "But you can't, please Pete no."

"Sorry Jase, it was fun, but we're just not right for one another. And I have needs, something you were too inexperienced to fulfil."

"Please Pete, we can still do this. I'll do whatever you want, just don't go." But Pete was already walking down the lane, oblivious to Jason's cries.

The younger boy waited in his garden for a further five minutes, desperately hoping that Pete would reappear and take him back, though he soon had to give up. Sighing, he turned back to the house, hoping that if anyone saw him, they'd mistake his tears for raindrops.

}}}}}}}}}

"Come on Jase, you've been ignoring me all day, you can't seriously be this annoyed," Robbie cried as the twins walked out of school the next day. Just as he had been doing since last night, Jason made no motion to indicate that he'd heard Robbie, keeping his fast pace up and only stopping when he felt Robbie's hand on his shoulder.

"Get off of me," he said through gritted teeth, anger flowing through his veins. "You did this, you made Pete dump me because of what you and Freddie said."

"Well he can't have been that good of a boyfriend, if he dumped you because of a few jokes," Robbie grunted, though he did look somewhat guilty. Jason sighed, turning away from his brother, though he stopped short when he spotted a very familiar figure. Pete was walking down the playground, ignoring the appreciative looks sent his way by the other pupils, eyes only on Jason.

"Hi," he said slowly, when he reached both brothers, and it was only then that Jason realised his eyes were red, as if he had been crying. "I'm so sorry Jason, I completely over-reacted yesterday."

"You think?" Robbie muttered from beside Jason, though he wasn't paid any attention.

"I've just been going through the whole thing in my head, and I can't believe I was so stupid to end it. I love you Jason, I guess I was too scared to say anything before."

"Really?" Jason asked, unable to believe someone like Pete would love _him_. When Pete only nodded, a smile broke out and he couldn't help but feel weak at the knees. "I love you too."

"So, you'll take me back?" Pete asked, stubbornly ignoring Robbie who was mock retching beside them.

"Course I will," Jason breathed, squeaking at the sudden movement, when Pete pulled him into a searing kiss.

}}}}}}}}}}}}

The next few weeks passed in a similar manner to the first part of the relationship, though Pete refused to even step foot into the Roscoe household, not wanting past events to repeat themselves. This meant, they ended up spending most of their time in Pete's grungy flat, which he shared with two other guys from his uni course.

Their relationship had been progressing a lot more though, physically at least. And sure, Pete was normally the one to start it, the one to persuade Jason to take that extra step when he wasn't sure, but wasn't that normal?

He was older after all, the one with more experience. If he wanted something, then really, Jason was there to provide, and Pete was helping him out a lot anyway. Showing him what was what and so on.

It wasn't as bad as it sounded anyway, Jason _did_ enjoy what they did together and he did love Pete and Pete loved him and that was the most important thing.

One Friday night, just under two months after they got back together, Jason and Pete found themselves at one of the many parties held by uni students. It was looking to be a good night, and Jason was looking forward to getting back to Pete's flat to spend some _personal _time with his boyfriend.

"You want to dance?" a small brunette asked, her eyes sparkling as she played with a strand of hair.

"Urm, I'm just waiting for my boyfriend, sorry," Jason said, smiling in apology as he searched for Pete in the crowd.

"Oh well, worth a try," the girl shrugged, sitting next to Jason on the sofa and taking a sip of her drink. "Do I know him?"

"Pete Stewart ring any bells?" Jason asked, hoping it would be a no and the girl would choose to leave him alone.

"So you're Pete's lad," the girl said, her jovial tone long gone, the sudden change startling to see. "Look he may be a good boyfriend now but I've heard-"

"You've heard what Stacey?" Pete's tone was hard and he was glaring at the girl with almost hatred in his eyes

"Urh... nothing, nothing at all," the girl said, her tone meek. She stood and went to leave, staying well away from Pete. "Nice meeting you Jason."

"Uh, you too," Jason replied, confused by the weird turn of events. When Stacey had left, he turned to Pete, taking the glass from his hand. "What was that about?"

"Nothing love, this place is full of rumours and Stacey never knows when to keep her mouth shut. Come on, lets go, I'd rather spend some time at the flat with you." He pulled Jason up, and practically dragged him out of the party, to his nearby flat.

Once there he shared a searing hot kiss with Jason and despite a well placed roll of his hips, that would usually leave him weak at the knees, Jason was no longer in the mood after seeing Stacey's reaction to Pete.

"Not tonight," he told Pete firmly, a hit of fear spiking through him at the cold look that took over his boyfriend.

"You're kidding me? You were all over me this evening and then flaunting yourself with that slut Stacey-"

"I'm gay Pete! I wasn't doing anything with Stacey, I'd only just met her, and even if I'd known her for years, I wouldn't be doing anything with her, due to her lacking some certain parts."

"Don't even try that Jason. You were showing yourself off, teasing me all night and then you completely backtrack."

"I wasn't doing anything, it's not my fault you thought you were going to get something that I never promised anyway-" He was interrupted by a blow to the stomach, doubling over and gasping for breath as he looked in pure shock at Pete.

When he felt like he was okay, Jason stood up straight, unable to believe what Pete had just done to him. "You hit me? What the fuck Pete?"

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry babes. I didn't mean it, I don't even know how it happened."

"Whatever, I'm leaving," Jason shouted, making his way to the door, but his path was quickly blocked.

"You can't leave me, I love you. You're my everything Jason, I didn't mean it, I was just angry. What you were saying and then seeing you at the party, it was just too much, I just lost control."

He knew it was wrong, Jason knew he shouldn't go back to Pete, not after what he had done, but it was just a mistake. Pete certainly looked apologetic enough, tears were streaming down his face and he looked like he wanted nothing more than to touch Jason once more, to make sure he wasn't going to leave.

"I'll stay," he said, knowing he had done the right thing when relief seemed to flood through Pete's whole being.

"Thank you love. I promise that will never happen again." Pete said, moving forward and pressing a gentle kiss on Jason's lips. "Let me take care of you tonight, to make up for it."

Although, Jason still wasn't in the mood, what could he do? Pete wanted to make this up to him, wanted to show that he was sorry, it really wouldn't be best if he told Pete no. So he pushed down his reluctance, returning Pete's next kiss with as much as enthusiasm as he could muster and praying that he was still doing the right thing.

}}}}}}}}}

The thing is, once the damn's been broken, it's almost impossible to stop other things from flooding through, and even then, they never stop becoming bigger, more traumatic.

That one punch was the damn breaking and after that, the once amazing and love-filled relationship became solely about hidden bruises, tears, apologies and beatings. Lots of beatings.

Small things that once may have annoyed Pete, became huge and he was never afraid to show his displeasure. In just three short months, Jason Roscoe was practically unrecognisable.

He didn't hang out with his friends. Pete hated them, thought they were too immature and attention seeking.

He only went to parties that Pete said he could go to. That way, he was never alone, could never be chatted up by other people, couldn't leave Pete for other people. Like he'd be that stupid.

He always did what Pete wanted him to do. It felt like that his primary purpose was to please his boyfriend, never mind what time of day it was. Never mind that his own needs weren't ever met.

Hell, he rarely spent time with his family anymore. Pete didn't like them either. Sandy was an interfering old bag. Joe was a dense cave man. Freddie was conner, no conscience to keep him up at night.  
Ziggy was a walking STD. Robbie was a little shit who needed to keep his nose out of things, and should have more respect for his fucking elders. Even Lindsey couldn't escape his scorn, for someone not part of the family, she wasn't half intrusive.

The Roscoe's had all noticed that change, but had no clue as to what was bothering Jason, everytime they tried to talk to him, he closed off, refusing to answer any of their questions. Those days were common and always ended in disaster and Jason hated himself for pushing his family away, but what else could he do?

"Jason! Come down here please, I need a word." Sandy yelled up the stairs, motioning for her son to sit when he entered the living room, a confused look on his face. "The school just rang and they're worried about you. You've been missing classes a lot these last few weeks and all your grades have been suffering."

Jason sighed, knowing he'd been caught out. It was true, his grades had been gradually getting worse, but he figured it wasn't anything to worry about, he could always lift them during exam week. And for the skiving, well he'd been with Pete. As always.

"Are you going to say anything, tell me why you've been skipping classes?" Sandy asked, her annoyance clear to see.

"Robbie skives all the time," Jason pointed out, hoping that he could quickly switch the subject round before leaving.

"And I have a go at him for it too, but this isn't like you J. You've always been a good kid, but now, you're getting into trouble and you're out every night with Pete."

"He's my boyfriend mum, we're allowed to hang out."

"Well not at the sacrifice to your grades. I'm serious Jason, I don't want you seeing that boy anymore, he's a bad influence."

"I'm eighteen mum, you can't tell me what to do!"

"You've been eighteen for two weeks, not exactly mature adult material. And whilst you're still at school and living under my roof, I can tell you exactly what to do."

"Whatever," Jason growled, in no mood for his mother to shout at him. Pete had been in a bad mood all day too, the new bruises on his torso proved that. "I'm going to Pete's."

"Don't even think about it," Sandy cried, but Jason was already gone, front door slamming behind him. He practically ran to his boyfriend's flat, knocking furiously until the older man answered the door, looking confused when Jason barrelled through.

"Are James and Tyler in?" He asked, referring to Pete's housemates.

"No, they've gone to a party. Are you okay babe?"

"Just had an argument with mum is all, I hope it's okay that I'm here."

"Hey you know it is, I love having you round. What was it about?"

"She was just complaining about school, my grades have dropped slightly."

"You're still the smartest guy I know, she's just worrying over nothing and getting herself involved." Pete said softly, kissing Jason lightly and showing he was there for him. The kiss quickly changed pace though, with Pete flicking his tongue over Jason's upper lip, his hands cradling the base of Jason's neck.

"No, not tonight Pete," Jason said, pulling away.

"Come on love, it'll make you feel better."

"I said no damnit!" The anger from earlier that evening came to the forefront, releasing suddenly. "I've just spent half the evening arguing with my mum, who's determined to make me leave you. I don't want sex, I just want comfort, I want to feel like I belong somewhere."

"She what?" Pete growled, and Jason cursed himself for his earlier slip. "What the hell is your whore of a mother saying about me now?"

"Don't say that about my mum," Jason yelled, unable to deal with the constant slating of his family, moving to lunge, though he was pushed roughly against the wall, head banging against the plaster. A fist came flying towards his face and blinded him where he stood.

Jason was left staggering as he tried to acclimatise to the sudden pain that seared through his whole face. He fell to the floor as more punches rained down on him, crying out and trying to stop Pete to no effect. This was it. This was how he was going to die.

Surprisingly, the punches soon stopped, though Jason didn't move until he heard the front door open and close again, presumably Pete had left, assuming Jason was unconscious or worse... He needed to get out of there, before Pete came back and actually finished the job.

He woozily made his way to his feet, almost throwing up as the world span round, though making it to the door some what quickly. He didn't know how he got back home, but one second he was at the block of flats, the next he was staggering through the door, the shocked cries of his family breaking through his haze.

"Who did this? Baby, what's happened? Where's Pete?" His mother questioned, getting him to sit down, as the others frantically moved around him.

And it all came out. The jealously, the threats, the beatings. Every part of his relationship with Pete came spilling out of Jason's mouth and he couldn't seem to control his actions.

When he'd finished, the blood that had practically covered his whole face had been wiped away and the whole family were seated, absolutely horrified to hear what had happened to one of their own.

"I'm going to kill him," Freddie promised, the others all nodding in agreement.

"No you can't," Jason said, lunging forward and instantly regretting the sudden movement, as the world spun once more.

"No-one's killing anyone," Sandy said sternly. "But we need to do something Jason. We need to get the police involved love, I know it's difficult, but Pete's dangerous, he may hurt others. God' knows where he is now, you were just lucky he left when he did."

Knowing what his mum was saying was right, Jason nodded, sighing as Lindsey picked the phone up and began dialling.

"You tell me if anything like this happens again, God forbid." Sandy said softly. "You're my son Jason, I would have only helped you."

"I know mum," Jason said softly, tears spilling as his mum pulled him into a hug. It had been difficult finally telling his family what had been going on, and the road to recovery would be even harder, but with his family there, to support him on every step of the way, Jason knew he couldn't go wrong.

_I promise there are nicer oneshots coming up, I do. _

_Thank you all, for the lovely responses last chapter. I am so sorry I made so many of you cry though :') _

_Next Story –Freddie accompanies a female friend to a gig and something goes wrong - prompted by fangirlinthefrock_


	22. Old Friends, Reunited

_Old Friends, Reunited._

_This Story was prompted by fangirlinthefrock and the prompt was_**Freddie accompanies a female friend to a gig and something goes wrong. **

_Again, this is another chapter with a warning. Although not graphic, this story does deal with rape, though it doesn't actually happen. Please don't read, if you feel you'll be triggered, though it doesn't take up a lot of the story and there no detail of any sort. I'm mainly focusing on the outcome and how it affects people. _

_Hope you all enjoy. _

The train pulled into the station shortly after three, one sunny Saturday afternoon and as the large crowd filtered through the doors, Freddie Roscoe craned his neck, looking for two specific people. His searching was cut short when he was practically launched on by a petite brunette, stepping back to keep his footing.

"Freddie!" the girl cried, laughing as said man spun her round, before dropping her back to her feet, though she didn't relinquish her grip.

"Alright Steph, let him breathe," a male voice broke through to the pair and they reluctantly split apart to face the second newcomer. Although Freddie towered over him, he was still pretty tall compared to others and an easy grin was painted over his face as he dragged not only a bright pink suitcase, but a large guitar case with him.

"I'm sorry Scott, I'd say I'd carry the case for you," Steph said apologetically, moving to take the neon case from her fiancée.

"Don't worry about it babes, I know how you get when you're excited." Scott laughed, passing over the case.

"And you're still marrying her?" Freddie mocked, dodging a playful slap from the brunette. "You're a bigger man than most."

"Well she makes it up to me in more than one way," Scott smirked lazily, the young couple leaning in for a kiss.

"Keep the pda to a minimum guys, I kinda want to keep my lunch," Freddie groaned, smiling as his friends shot him a glare, before doing the opposite to what he wanted, both laughing once they separated.

Freddie couldn't keep a straight face around his two friends and soon also started laughing with the couple. He had missed both of them, more than he thought possible, and after only spending two minutes with them both, he already felt happier than he had in months, previous worries fading away until they were practically insignificant.

Steph was an old friend from high school, and the two had been inseparable after being paired for a science project back in year nine. Where one went, the other was usually close behind and everyone knew them as FreddieandSteph.

Freddie was man enough, to admit that when he learnt the whole family were moving up to Chester, both he and Steph had cried buckets at the prospect of hundreds of miles away from one another.

It had been difficult being so far away from his oldest friend, but regular skype dates had lessened the pain slightly and when Scott (Steph's long term boyfriend, recently turned fiancée) had revealed his band had a gig just a few miles away from Hollyoaks village, Freddie had jumped at the chance to go down and see it, after all, it was a fantastic chance to catch up with the couple.

This led to where they were now, and after a short half hour of catching up in the local Costa, Scott departed, having to meet his other bandmates to rehearse for that night.

"Now keep your hands to yourself Roscoe," he teased, arching a brow before he went to move away.

"She's all yours mate, believe me, I ain't that stupid to let her ensnare me."

Steph choked on her latte, snorting inelegantly as she tried to keep control of her laughter. "I prefer the term 'charm'. And I've done it before, why wouldn't I be able to now?"

"Well, we all do things we regret don't we?" Freddie said, laughing when Steph's jaw dropped, as he referenced their brief but volatile relationship during year eleven. She slapped him lightly across the chest and Scott couldn't contain his laughter at seeing the two best friend's bickering like they did when they were still in school.

"Just stay in one piece. Both of you."

"Yes mum," they drawled as one, snickering when Scott rolled his eyes.

"See you later babes," he said, pecking Steph on the cheek, knowing it was just easier to leave the pair as they were, instead of getting himself involved. He'd had too many headaches by trying to intervene in the past, and had long since learned his lesson.

Once Scott had ducked out of the shop, guitar in hand, both Freddie and Steph's laughter died down.

"You look happy," he commented, taking a leisurely sip from his drink.

"I am. I've never been so happy with someone and it just gets better every single day," Steph sighed, smiling as she played with the small ring on her finger. "The wedding can't come soon enough."

"You say that now, but you should of seen Lindsey the week before her and Joe's wedding. I swear she almost killed us all at least once."

"Good thing I don't get stressed then," Steph replied, her tone serious and it took all of Freddie's self-restraint to not start laughing then and there, memories of Steph when she joined the prom committee in year 11 flashing through his mind. The feisty girl had made at least three other members cry before she was kicked off the group, due to her constant stressing of every minute detail.

"How is Lindsey then?" She asked, her tone innocent, not that it stopped Freddie stiffening at the mention of the newest Roscoe.

"She's fine, why wouldn't she be?"

"You know what I mean Freds," Steph sighed, her question already answered by Freddie's not so tactile avoiding of the question. She had been the first person that Freddie had confided with. The first one to be told about his feelings for his brother's wife.

It pained her to see her best friend so upset by something he had no control over, and it had been that way for almost nine years now. Both friends knew the situation would never change, but Steph never stopped wishing that Freddie would move on, allow his heart to heal and begin falling for someone else. Someone else who would love him with all their heart.

As of yet that hadn't changed, but maybe, one day, Freddie would find someone who he could let his guard down around and finally be himself.

"She's still hopelessly in love with Joe if that's what you're asking," Freddie said sharply, trying his best not to snap. "I heard them talking about trying for another baby last week."

"Oh Freddie, I'm sorry," Steph soothed, taking the larger hand in her own and squeezing tightly, only wishing she could do more to help her heartbroken friend. Neither said anything for a moment, though the silence was broken when Freddie took back his hand, sniffing loudly as if to stop the tears.

"Enough of this depressive shit, you're only here till tomorrow and we're certainly not spending our precious time moping about. The gig starts in three hours, so how about we go back to mine and put a crappy movie on whilst you get ready?"

"Sounds like a brilliant plan," Steph smiled, knowing better than to push the matter. She grabbed her small case, wheeling it out of the small coffee shop and followed Freddie to his house, anticipation running through her veins for that evening.

}}}}}}}}}

"Hello Steph, love," Sandy greeted with a huge smile when the two friends arrived at the large Roscoe household.

"Hi Sandy," Steph smiled, heart warming as she saw the woman who was practically her second mother, moving to hug her tightly. "This place is so cool!"

"Well I do try," Sandy laughed, moving back so could properly look over Steph, as she did everytime Steph came over, no matter if it was mere minutes after her last visit. "Are you two staying for tea? There's plenty to go round, so it's no hassle."

"Don't worry bout it mum, we're meeting up with Scott and his band before the gig starts, so we'll grab something then" Freddie said hastily, ignoring Steph's snort of laughter.

As practically an honorary Roscoe, Steph had more than once been subjected to Sandy's cooking, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for all of the boy's tastebuds, having grown up with it.

"Thank you for the offer though," she smiled, before being whisked up the stairs by Freddie, only stopping when they ended up in a spacy room, two twin beds lying side by side.

"Why are we in the twin's room?" she asked, looking around as if she expected one of the two lads to pop out of nowhere. When Freddie said nothing, she turned to look at him, almost laughing once more at the expression on his face. "You share a room. Who with?"

"Who do you think Einstein?"

"Ziggy? I'm surprised you get any sleep in here then, he was always with a girl whenever I saw him."

"Not a lot's changed unfortunately for my back. It's been slowly getting introduced to the sofa bed." Steph giggled at that, the image of her lanky friend trying to fit onto the tiny sofa too humorous for her. "It's not that funny."  
"Kind of is though Freds. Your little brother kicking you out of your room every night, must get irritating."

Instead of bothering with a reply, Freddie rolled his eyes, before turning to the TV and switching it on. "The Incredibles okay for you?"

"Of course. It's like you don't even know me sometimes Freddie," Steph laughed, opening the hand luggage and plucking out her make-up bag.

}}}}}}}}}

The music was thumping loudly, and the club that was holding the gig was already full of dancing, writhing bodies. "When you on mate?" Freddie shouted over the music as Steph and Scott separated for air.

"Bout ten minutes," he yelled back, dancing sensually with his fiancée, both completely out of time with the music. As one song ended, Scott regrettably moved away, giving Steph a parting kiss before making his way backstage with the rest of his band.

"You're sickening," Freddie drawled, as he moved to where Scott had been just moments before.

"Oh I know," Steph giggled, face lighting up as she thought about her partner once more. "He's just so perfect you know."

"I do. Only because you tell me every chance you get."

"Got to let the whole world know I got the best man!" Steph yelled, the effects of alcohol slowly setting in as she began to stumble over a few of her words.

"You do that Steph. I'm going to get us another drink kay? God knows I'll regret it tomorrow, but you're a funny drunk."

Steph waved to Freddie as he pushed his way through the crowd, quickly getting lost in the music once more. She loudly cheered as Scott made his way up onto the stage with his band, blowing her soon to be husband a kiss and beginning to dance once more.

She was surrounded by people, by complete strangers, but the young woman was in her element. She soon found herself in the arms of another guy, who at first she thought was Freddie, though his grip on her was too forceful and she was well aware it wasn't her friend as her chin was pushed harshly upwards, and the stranger tried to force his tongue down her throat.

"What the hell?" she yelled, pushing the brute away. "I'm engaged you dick."

"Shouldn't show yourself off like that then. You're just asking for it, you whore," the clearly drunk guy said sharply, stepping forward to make another move on Steph, though he was harshly pulled back.

"She said no," Freddie growled, doing his best to not punch the absolute scum who stood in front of him.

The older guy didn't say anything, though he was clearly put off by Freddie's threatening demeanour. Luckily for everyone around, the blonde man obviously decided it wasn't worth the fight, so shrugged off Freddie's grip and pushed his way through the crowd.

"You okay?" Freddie asked, incredibly concerned for his shaken friend.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine," Steph replied, shooting him an unconvincing smile. "I'm going to go to the loo, be back in a bit."

Although it looked like he wanted to say something, Freddie mercifully kept his mouth shut and let Steph make her way to the toilets. She was grateful to him and knew why he was her best friend. Freddie seemed to be the only one who could tell when she actually wanted company and when she needed a minute for herself.

"Stop being so pathetic Steph," the brunette muttered to herself, splashing herself with cold, refreshing water, and hoping it would dispel the fear that had settled into the pit of her stomach. "He didn't do anything, he was just a drunken freak. You're fine, you're completely grand."

"A freak am I?" A cold voice broke through the Steph's mumbles, startling her completely. She spun around, eyes widening as she saw the guy from before, completely blocking the bathroom door and looking furious. "You need teaching a lesson about respect. But don't worry, I'm a good teacher."

}}}}}}}}}}}

Freddie took another glance around the floor, desperately trying to find his friend with no luck. Scott's set was almost coming to an end and he knew that Steph had wanted at least one dance right by the stage before the night was over.

She had said it would make her feel like she was dating a proper rock star. But she wasn't by the stage and she didn't seem to be anywhere else. The only place she could be was the toilet (unless she had gone backstage to surprise Scott like she had done after his graduation, Freddie still had the mental scars of walking in on them shagging on the table).

Freddie decided the toilets was probably his best bet, though he stopped short when he saw the guy from before enter the room, a furious expression painted on his twisted face. Fear rose up and Freddie began pushing through the crowds with little regards to the people he passed by, only one destination in mind. He needed to reach Steph, now.

It felt like it took years, like he was swimming through custard, but eventually he reached the toilets, desperately hoping that it wouldn't be too late for his friend. When Freddie pushed the door open, he was met with the most horrific sight.

Steph was crowded in the corner, crying brokenly as the taller guy tangled his hand in her hair and roughly kissed her. His other hand was lying on her hip, though it was moving up, dragging the skirt of Steph's dress with him.

"Hey!" Freddie shouted, catching the pair's attention and the guy instinctively froze. With a guttural growl, Freddie moved forward, pulling the guy away from Steph and punching him with such force he fell to the ground, already unconscious.  
"Are you okay?" he asked gently, making sure not to crowd Steph as she struggled to control her breathing. Surprisingly, Steph ran forward, tightly hugging Freddie as she brokenly sobbed into his shoulder. "He didn't-"

Freddie was unable to finish the question, the thought of _that _happening to his best friend was simply unthinkable and he didn't know he would be able to cope if that happened.

"No," Steph said, her voice catching slightly. "He just... er he just kissed me... and eh tou- wandering hands."

"Oh God, Steph, I'm so sorry." Freddie sighed, the hatred for the monster lying on the floor behind him, growing every second, for making his friend as upset as she was. Steph wasn't easily shaken and to see her like this... well it was unnerving.

"Hey, hey it's okay," Freddie soothed, trying to calm Steph's nerves as best as he could. "It's over, I'm here now, and I won't let anyone hurt you ever again."

Steph didn't say anything, choking on her tears as she desperately tried to keep control of herself. "Come on, we need to find the manager," Freddie said, throwing another glance at the still unconscious guy to see if he was close to coming round. Fortunately he wasn't.

"What?" Steph breathed, eyes widening in fear. "No, no I can't tell anyone, I just... I just can't."

"Steph we need to tell someone" Freddie said, trying to keep his tone calm. He wanted nothing more than to beat the guy in front of him to a pulp, but that wouldn't fix anything, just make matters worse. "That scum may try that on another girl, and they might not have someone to stop him. You were lucky, others might not be."

Steph took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm herself, before nodding, squeezing Freddie's hand tightly. "Okay, can we go now though? I don't think I'll be able to do it, if we wait any longer."

"Course we can," Freddie sighed in relief, guiding his friend out of the dank bathrooms. As the pair made their way to the bar, Scott's band finished their set, the whole crowd erupting into cheers and appreciative yells.

"Scott's going to kill me for missing his band," Steph groaned, though Freddie still heard her quiet utterance over the noise.

"Don't be daft," Freddie said, trying to keep a sense of normality to his tone as they reached the bar. "Can we talk to the manager please?" The barmaid nodded, leaving the bar and trotted up a set of stairs that presumably led to the manager's office.

"Hey babes, I didn't see you by the sta- hey what's wrong?" Scott asked, fear filling his tone as he saw the distressed state of Steph. Steph didn't say anything, instead launching herself at her fiancée and busting into tears once more.

"Guy tried it on with her in the bathrooms. It could have got quite nasty." Freddie supplied, unable to stop feeling nervous as Scott's eyes darkened, as he presumably filled in the blanks.

"Where is he? I'll kill the bastard." Before Freddie could try and calm the older man down, the bar maid came back, shooting a curious look towards Steph.

"He's fine to see you now, I'll take you guys up." The trio followed the young woman up to the office, all grateful as she didn't question them to why they needed to see her boss. She scuttled away when they had been allowed into the office, all sat on the old leather couch that took up one corner of the surprisingly large room.

"How can I help you guys?" The manager asked, his naturally warm eyes full of concern for a still crying Steph.

"My friend was, she was almost raped in one of your toilets," Freddie said, the word feeling wrong and dirty in his mouth. At the shocked look of the older man, he opened his mouth again, already telling him everything he could. Once he was finished, Steph had seemingly calmed, though tears were still trickling down her face, her previous intricate make-up smeared horrendously.

Scott looked absolutely furious and the only thing that was probably stopping him from marching down to where the guy was being held (the manager had sent down a bouncer to collect him and take him to one of the back rooms, as soon as the first words were out of Freddie's mouth), was Steph's iron grip on his hand.

The manager was looking faintly ill at what had almost happened in his club, unable to say anything for a moment, though he quickly composed himself. "There's nothing I can say to convey how sorry I am, about what happened to you tonight," he begun solemnly. "But I can promise you that I'll do everything I can do to help you and to prevent anything like this happening again."

"Too little too late," Scott muttered under his breath, not shrinking away under the dual gazes from Steph and the burly manager. "Steph could have been seriously injured, hell what she went through was too much as it was and-"

"Scott," Steph interrupted him, her tone steely.

"No he's right," Freddie said, mind still flashing back to the scene that had played out on front of him, everytime, new and worse alternatives flooding his head. "That shouldn't have happened to anyone, least of all you."

"But it did... It did happen to me. I can't pretend that it didn't and I won't have you two acting like complete neanderthals to bring justice or whatever you want to call it." At this, both men shied away from her hard tone.

"Like I said before, I'm so sorry about what happened to you, but I'll sure as hell, do whatever I can to help make the process of convicting that man as painless as possible for you. The police have already been called and the CCTV not only from the dancefloor, but in the toilets will more than back up your case. I promise you miss Durrington, I won't rest until he's put away."

"Thank you sir," Steph said sincerely. It was incomprehensible that a complete stranger would do so much for her, but she was eternally grateful to him. Before anymore could be said between the four, a knock on the office door broke through the silence and was quickly opened to reveal two sombre police officers.

"He's in one of the back rooms," the manager said, leading one of the officers to the would-be-attacker, whilst the other introduced herself to Steph, getting ready to take her first statement. As the young woman spoke, voice breaking over certain words as she re-lived the entire experience once more, Freddie's blood boiled.

It broke his heart to see his usually lively friend so broken by something that could have happened. He wished he could do something, anything to help her lessen her pain, but he knew that there was nothing. It seemed like Scott was having a similar dilemma and Freddie knew it must be a hundred times worse for him.

He loved Steph with all his heart, and to know that she was going through all that pain, well, Scott's heart must be breaking. Freddie couldn't imagine what he would do if it was Lindsey that had been attacked, and she wasn't even connected to him, not like that anyway.

Eventually the police woman took her leave, thanking Steph for her time and giving times for not only her to go down to the station the next day, but also for Freddie.

"Come on, you guys can stay at mine for the night," Freddie told the couple, standing to leave the club and wishing the night would just go and end already.

"And sleep where?" Steph asked, arching a brow. "Your place is already bursting at the seams."

"We're fine Freddie," Scott cut in before Steph could become too snappy with her remarks. "We booked a hotel room to stay in anyway, so it's not like we'll be sleeping on the streets."

"I known but I'd rather if you were with me for the night."

"Freddie we'll be fine," Steph said, and it was clear to both men that it was taking all of her self restraint to not snap there and then. "I just want to get out of here, have a shower and go to bed. I really don't need the extra hassle and I love Sandy, I really do, but she'll only fret and crowd me. I don't think I can cope with that, not tonight."

Freddie nodded, taking note of her words and knowing she was right. All he wanted to do right now was take Steph, and keep her some where safe, where no-one could ever hurt her again, but that wasn't possible.

So he had to settle for second best, which was letting her do as she wanted, and although he didn't like it, Freddie knew that Steph had do what she thought best for her.

"Okay," he nodded, aching for the triumphant gleam that would have been in his best friend's eye, if she had gotten one over him in any other situation, but was glaringly missing now. "But you call me if you need to, I don't care what time it is okay, just pick up that phone, and I'll be there in an instant. That goes for you too Scott kay?"

The couple nodded, all three making their way into the main body of the club so they could reach their taxis and therefore their beds.

"Thanks for tonight man," Scott said softly as Steph fiddled mindlessly with her clutch, looking up and down the street to spot her taxi. "If something happened to Steph, if that creep had managed to do something to her, then I don't know what I would have ever been able to do."

"I only did what anyone would have done," Freddie said just as softly, looking up to make sure Steph hadn't overheard their hushed conversation. "She's my best mate Scott, I love her and would honestly do anything I could to help her."

"I know... Just thank you," Scott said quickly as his and Steph's taxi drove down the road, stopping just where they were. "We'll see you tomorrow yeah?"

"Course," Freddie said, waving half-heartedly as the vehicle drove off. He wished nothing more than to be in the taxi with the others, to be there for Steph, to comfort her as best he could, though he understood completely why it was impossible.

Steph and Scott needed some time together, to wrap their heads around what had happened just a few hours previously. The couple needed some precious alone time, to try and begin the healing process and soothe one other. It sucked, but Freddie could more than understand the feeling.

}}}}}}}}}}}}}

The next morning was a long one from start to finish. Freddie had to go down to the police station at nine to give his statement in for the previous night. Just stepping into the building covered him in a cold sweat, as he remembered past crimes that would have him locked away for years, if he was ever discovered.

But he wasn't here for any of those reasons, he was here to try and give a helping hand, in sending that scum down. It didn't take long before he was seated in an interview room, two kindly police officers sat across from him (though he doubted they would look so warm hearted and understanding if they knew exactly what he had gotten up to previously).

They asked him questions and he answered as clearly as possibly, trying to remember every detail that he could, to try and make the process easier for Steph when her time came in not court, though if the thug from earlier pleaded guilty, it may not come to that. At least, that was what the officers had told him.

"Thank you Mr Roscoe, that should be all for now, though we may need to call you back in at a later date. If you do remember anything else, no matter how insignificant, please inform us straight away. Although we do have Mr McDaid in custody and are all aware of what happened between him and Miss Durrington last night, every bit of evidence that we can scrape together now, instead of later will make all the difference when prosecuting."

"Of course," Freddie nodded, taking his leave when motioned to do so and coming face to face with both Steph and Scott, the former looking incredibly pale.

"You just finished?" She asked and Freddie nodded, heart breaking at the state of both of his friends. Steph's normally bright, brown eyes were now dull, red raw as if she had been crying all night. She probably had.

Scott's light hair was sticking up, and Freddie had the mental image of him relentlessly running his hand through it as he watched Steph, unable to do anything to lessen the pain of his fiancée.

"We have too, though we're waiting round. If there's enough evidence and depending what the scum says, the officers say we can head back down to London later today, and then head up here if we need to go to court."

"Am I okay to stay?" Freddie asked. He didn't want to leave the pair, but was willing to do so if they needed more time together.

"Don't be a pillock Freds," Steph sighed, taking her friend's hand in her own and dragging him to a chair. "We want you to stay." The three sat huddled together, waiting for a word on what would happen next.

After five minutes of nothing but silence, Freddie felt like he was going to snap. "I'm sorry," he told the couple, who shared a confused look with one another. "This is all my fault."

"Don't say that Freddie, it's not."

"But if I hadn't been so pushy to get you up here, then Scott wouldn't have done the gig and that brute wouldn't have had chance to touch you."

"Well then it's surely my fault," Scott countered. "You know me and the band have been trying to broaden out recently, we probably would have done last night whether you were here or not."

"Both of you, shut up," Steph groaned, too exhausted to deal with the others blaming themselves. "This isn't anyone's fault except for _him_. We're going to do what we can to send him down and stop him doing what he did to me, to other girls."

Before anymore could be said on the matter, one of the police officers that had been present for Freddie's statement, made his way over to the three friends, gesturing for Steph come with him so he could give her more information.

"Whatever you say, you can say in front of these two," she told him, refusing to soften the iron grip she had on Scott's hand.

The officer stilled for a moment, obviously trying to weigh the decision up in his head, though he seemed to decide that arguing about it, would just be a waste of time for everyone involved.

"Mr McDaid has admitted to the charges and will be pleading guilty in court. This makes it a lot easier on you, as you will only be called up to court when a date has been decided on, though it should be held in the next few weeks. If you do wish to go back to London until then, we can collect any other details from you, at your local police station, to make this as easy as possible for you."

"So, we're okay to go home?" Steph asked, yearning for her bed and messy flat. A hotel was all good and well, but after the night she'd had, it had been practically impossible for her to relax and she'd spent the hours sobbing into Scott's arms, wishing the fear and pain would just leave her.

"I would say so, there doesn't seem to be any other details we need to get from you anyway."

}}}}}}}}}}}}

"You sure you'll be okay? Freddie asked Steph, hugging her tightly as the train pulled into the station. "After last night."

"I don't know whether I'll ever be okay again," She admitted truthfully, pulling away from the hug and latching herself onto Scott. "But I think I'll cope at least."

"Ring me if anything happens okay?" Freddie told the couple, giving them a small smile as Scott moved away to the carriage, giving the two friends a moment alone. "I'd hate to be away from you if you need me."

"This isn't your fault you know," Steph told Freddie, watching her fiancée wheel the case onto their carriage. "I know you Freddie, even though you've told me you know it isn't, I can see all over your face that you're blaming yourself for this."

"I just can't stop thinking what if."

"But you're going to have to. Freddie, you saved me. If you hadn't been there, I don't know what would have happened to me or what I would have done. I can't thank you enough, I really can't, but thank you Freddie."

"Hey, I promised I'd always protect you."

"Ever since that time I got into a fight with Jamie Walters right?" Steph said, laughing weakly.  
"Exactly, and I don't break my promises ever."

"Well then you better stick to the one about coming down and visiting me. I miss you Freds."  
"I miss you too," Freddie said softly, his voice watery as he gave Steph a final hug, before she jumped onto the train, waving furiously as it pulled out of the station not even a minute later.

He couldn't see Steph becoming her old bubbly self for a long time to come, but with Scott there, she'd hopefully recover from her ordeal sooner rather than later.

And if that didn't do it. Well then she still had skype dates with him every week. They'd sure as hell put a smile on her face.

_I hope you all enjoyed this story, including the prompter :) Keep the prompts coming in guys, I'm on half term now, so I have more time to write (which I'm fully intending on using!) _

_Next Story – How Jason got into boxing (and yes, it's a happy one!) - prompted by reallyme_


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